


Twist of Fate

by CarlyCo



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Crack, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Humanity Switch (Vampire Diaries), Hybrids, Multi, Polyamory, Ripper Stefan Salvatore, Temporary Character Death, Witch Curses, soul mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-09-12 00:53:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 63,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16863157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlyCo/pseuds/CarlyCo
Summary: Everyone has a breaking point. Bonnie Bennett found hers at the intersection of a murderous hybrid and the spirits of meddlesome witches. She's not going to let a little thing like a 2,000 year old curse or a 5,000 lb SUV get in her way. Bonnie's out for blood and she has the perfect sidekick.





	1. Chapter 1

Bonnie shivered and pulled her leather jacket tighter around her body as she stepped out of Alaric’s apartment building. Living in Virginia generally meant that winters with very little snow. Unfortunately, there was a nor’easter brewing in the Atlantic promising to blanket most of the East Coast with several feet of snow—if not more in certain areas. There was already an inch or more of snow covering the ground and it would only grow worse in the coming days. The good news was that the inhospitable weather would probably keep them safe from Klaus a little longer. The bad news was that everyone agreed to seek refuge at the Salvatore boarding house. It wasn’t safe for them to be scattered around Mystic Falls when the roads would soon be impassable by vehicles.

The stark week ahead of them was enough to convince Rebekah to blow town for a few days. The original vampire hopped a flight to Cabo San Lucas as soon as the school board cancelled classes for the foreseeable future. Bonnie hoped that having everyone under one roof would help the group focus. It wasn’t as if there would be much to do other than brainstorm for ways out from under the threat of Klaus. Mystic Falls had an old infrastructure and they usually lost power when a powerful storm blew through town. Damon and Stefan had a generator but it was only strong enough to power the essentials like the kitchen appliances. However, the old school gas furnace and numerous fireplaces would ensure that they didn’t freeze when the temperature dropped.

She started walking down the street to where she parked her car earlier. The parking lot for Alaric’s building had been full when she arrived that afternoon. She had spent the majority of the day helping the reformed vampire hunter decipher the crude drawings from the cave beneath the Lockwood property. They had made a lot of progress today. They now had a full understanding of how the original vampires were created. Thanks to Elena, they had even discovered a way to drive a wedge between Rebekah and Klaus. Rebekah might be willing to forgive her brother for daggering her for nearly a century. It wasn’t likely that she would be so forgiving after learning that he killed their mother. However, they were no closer to finding a way to kill Klaus for good. Currently, their hopes were pinned on Katherine locating Mikael’s tomb. They hadn’t heard from her in weeks but she wasn’t really reliable. Bonnie wouldn’t have been surprised if Katherine decided to run again.

Bonnie looked down the street to make sure that there weren’t any cars headed in her direction. However, the streets of Mystic Falls were largely deserted as everyone prepared for the looming blizzard. She was halfway across the street when she heard a car speeding in her direction.

Everything seemed to slow to a halt as Bonnie tried to get out of the speeding car’s path. However, the driver swerved and plowed into Bonnie at full speed. The impact sent the girl flying into the air. Her body crashed onto the windshield the car with a sickening crack.

The driver stepped on the accelerator and then stopped short to dislodge Bonnie’s body from the hood of the car. She tumbled to the ground and watched as the car reversed and sped away from the scene.

Bonnie stared at the snow-covered street as blood seeped from her nose and mouth. She knew that there should be pain but Bonnie didn’t feel anything at all. A strange wheezing noise caught her attention in the stillness of the night air. It took a few seconds for Bonnie to realize that it was coming from her. Her lungs had been punctured when her ribs shattered.

In that moment, Bonnie realized that she was dying. She might have laughed if she could remember how to do that. However, it seemed that her brain wasn’t willing to take any commands right now. She figured her brain was busy trying to keep her alive for just a little longer. Well, even if her brain couldn’t admit defeat, Bonnie was throwing in the towel. The irony was that she was going to die because of something as benign as being hit by a car. Since learning that she was a witch, Bonnie had just assumed that she would be killed by something supernatural. Apparently, the universe had a really interesting sense of humor.

Bonnie probably should have been afraid to die but she wasn’t. She had been heartbroken from the moment that her grandmother died. The idea of joining her on the other side was more comfort than Bonnie had experienced in quite some time. She would have given anything to feel Sheila’s arms around her again. Death seemed a pretty inconsequential price to pay. Bonnie wasn’t happy in this world. She didn’t feel wanted or loved. Death would be a sweet mercy that she had always been too cowardly to take for herself.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she tried willing her disobedient brain to stop fighting. Her wheezing breaths were coming fewer and farther in between now. Soon she would stop breathing altogether and it would be over. Even her brain couldn’t keep fighting without oxygen.

Bonnie heard cursing from a familiar voice. The voice sounded so far away but close at the same time. However, she didn’t have the strength to open her eyes again to find out what was happening. It could be someone else’s problem for once. Bonnie was done saving the world because in the end she couldn’t even save herself.

The voice was talking to her now but she couldn’t understand the words. The voice was growing angrier and more insistent by the second but Bonnie still couldn’t comprehend. She really wanted to tell the person to shut the hell up. He or she was ruining the last moments of her life with frantic words that meant nothing to her.

_ Bonnie’s eyes opened and suddenly she was standing in the middle Alaric’s street once more. However, she could see her broken body lying at her feet. The car had done even more damage than Bonnie had originally thought. The picture was gruesome and it had been a miracle that she didn’t feel any of the pain. _

_ “You’re not supposed to be here,” came a voice from behind her. _

_ She whirled around and smiled when she saw her grandmother. Bonnie rushed into the woman’s arms and squeezed with all of her might. “Grams,” she breathed. _

_ Sheila hugged her granddaughter just as fiercely but her eyes lingered on Bonnie’s prone figure on the ground. She repeated, “You’re not supposed to be here.” _

_ Bonnie pulled back slightly so that she could look at her grandmother. However, she refused to let the woman go. “But I am here. Isn’t that all that really matters? I am here with you. I’m where I want to be.” _

_ Sheila’s expression saddened as she cradled Bonnie’s face in her hands. “My sweet girl, I know that you want to be with me. Nevertheless, it is not your time to join me here. You have so much life left to live. Listen, we only have a few minutes before you go back.” _

_ “What?” She pulled away from Sheila with wide eyes. “I can’t go back. I died, Grams. I felt myself die. I’m here with you now and I can’t go back. I won’t!” _

_ The older woman’s eyes hardened. “Bonnie Sheila Bennett, not even in death will you raise your voice to me.” _

_ Bonnie deflated and her eyes lowered to the ground. “I’m sorry, Grams. I just…I don’t want to go. Please, don’t make me go back. I miss you so much. Everything is so much harder without you being there. I have tried to be okay without you but I’m not. I need you. If you can’t be there with me, then I want to be here with you.” _

_ Sheila’s eyes watered as she listened to her granddaughter’s pain come spilling out.  She wiped away Bonnie’s tears and said, “I know that you miss me but I am always there, Bonnie. I am always with you. I know that it is hard but you have to keep living. You have so many wonderful things ahead of you…things even I couldn’t have imagined. We will be together again one day but not today…and not any time soon.” _

_ The girl clung to Sheila and cried even harder. “Please…” _

_ Sheila looked over Bonnie’s shoulder and tensed. Her gaze shifted back to the girl’s glassy eyes “Listen to me because we are nearly out of time. Klaus’s mother is trapped in a coffin but she is not to be trusted. She wants to kill her children but that would mean the end of all vampires. There is a way to neutralize Klaus permanently without killing all the vampires stemming from his bloodline. Go to the hospital in McKinley and look for a doctor named Josette Laughlin. She will be able to direct you onto the right path. Things are going to be difficult for you in the beginning but I promise that they will get better. You will know happiness, Bonnie. Do you understand?” _

_ Bonnie tried to remember everything that Sheila was saying but her heart was breaking. She nodded slowly and choked out, “I understand.” _

_ “I am always watching and I will always love you, Bonnie. You just need to start loving yourself, sweet girl.” _

_ Bonnie’s vision started to get fuzzy around the edges and she dropped to her knees. She could feel her body pulling her back to the land of the living. “I love you!” _

_ “I love you, too.” Sheila replied. “Trust Damon….trust him. He’ll keep you safe. Stay with him! And you tell him that I’ve been watching him and that I know about his late night visits.” _

When Bonnie’s eyes opened, she was staring up at Damon’s pained face. She couldn’t help but notice how much his crystal blue eyes reminded her of ice. It took a moment for Bonnie to gather her wits but slowly she realized that something was different. Everything around her felt more vivid. It was as if she was viewing the world around her through a high definition television. Even sounds were crisper and annoyingly loud in her sensitive ears. She groaned. “What is that stupid thumping noise?”

Damon cocked his head to the side and tried to figure out what Bonnie meant. Realization washed over his handsome features and he said, “That’s Ric’s stupid heartbeat making incredibly too much noise. Although, the way it is skipping a bit it sounds like he might have an arrhythmia. You might want to get that checked out, buddy.”

Ric moved into Bonnie’s sight line. “We should get her out of the snow.”

The vampire rolled his eyes. “It’s not as if she’s cold.”

Bonnie’s brain mulled over Damon’s response. He was right of course. Despite lying in the snow, Bonnie didn’t feel cold at all. Then she realized that the thumping noise that she was hearing as if played over surround sound was Alaric’s heartbeat. She sat up quickly and asked, “You turned me?”

Damon winced. He had hoped it would have taken Bonnie a little longer to figure out what happened. He really wasn’t in the mood to deal with a temper tantrum from a baby vamp tonight. This was not how his night was supposed to go. He said, “I didn’t turn you on purpose. Your heart was still beating when I go to you. I guess you were a little closer to dead than I realized when I gave you my blood.”

Bonnie repeated, “You turned me. I’m a vampire.”

He rolled his eyes as he prepared for a classic Bonnie tirade. “Yes, I turned you, Witchy. I gave you my blood to heal you but you croaked anyway. You are going to need blood because you are starting to transition.”

Bonnie looked toward the spot where her grandmother had been standing minutes ago. She blinked and then looked up at Damon. “I need blood.”

Ric asked, “Are you sure that you don’t want to think is over for a minute?”

Damon growled at Ric. “Shut up.”

“You can’t just force her to become a vampire, Damon. Bonnie deserves a choice on how she spends the rest of her life,” the teacher argued forcefully.

“Grams told me to stay with you,” she replied. Bonnie was still a little confused. However, she remembered every word her grandmother had spoken.

Ric asked, “With me?”

Bonnie shook her head and said, “No. She told me to stay with Damon…to trust him. She said that she’s been watching you and that she knows about your late night visits.”

Damon’s head snapped around as if he was looking for Sheila’s ghost. He growled. “Nosey old witch.”

Ric thought that the girl had merely hallucinated a conversation with her grandmother until he noticed Damon’s reaction. He lifted an eyebrow and asked, “What late night visits is she talking about, Damon?”

For a couple of months, Damon had been breaking into Bonnie’s house at night to check on her. He told himself it was because she was a sitting duck that Klaus could easily pick off since she lived alone. There was no way that Bonnie could know about his nightly visits unless she had really talked to Sheila on the other side.

“I’m hungry,” Bonnie’s eyes moved toward Alaric.

Damon tightened his hold on Bonnie to keep her from attacking Ric. He said, “I am going to get you back to the boarding house and you can have a nice bag of blood.”

Bonnie’s eyes were trained on Ric’s jugular vein like a heat-seeking missile. She really only wanted a little taste. It would just be a little snack to tide her over until they made it to the boarding house. “I really want his blood.”

Ric took a step back and said, “Uh…”

The older vampire laughed heartily as he stood up and pulled Bonnie with him. “You don’t want his blood, Bon-Bon. It probably tastes like old man, scotch, desperation, and pent up sexual frustration. That’s not a good first meal.”

Ric was about to object to Damon’s description of him but stopped short when he remembered that they were trying to convince Bonnie not to drain him like a juice box.

“But I’m hungry now,” she complained. Bonnie looked up at Damon as her green eyes turned black as coal.

He lifted an eyebrow and said, “Yes, I see that. Let’s get in the car, Bon-Bon.”

Bonnie let Damon steer her over to his vintage Camaro. However, she kept one eye on Ric as he followed them at a safe distance. She was wondering if she was fast enough to bite him before Damon could stop her.

Ric cleared his throat. “I, uh, I am going to go get my bags. I will meet the two of you at the boarding house.”

Damon opened the passenger door and all but shoved Bonnie inside. He could hear the beginnings of a growl starting at the idea of her potential meal leaving. He pointed at Bonnie and said, “Stay in the car.”

Bonnie huffed and asked, “Where is fun Damon that indiscriminately bites innocent people? Oh! Where is Stefan? He’s still Ripper Stefan! He won’t let me starve!”

Damon rolled his eyes to the sky. He said, “Maybe don’t come inside the boarding house until I’ve got Hannibal Lecter settled.”

“I can hear you!” she complained.

“I know!” he replied.

“Now who’s being judgy?” Bonnie huffed. She thought back to what her grandmother told her to do. She was worried that she might forget the important parts because Bonnie could only really focus on Alaric’s beating heart right now.


	2. Part Deux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lore for witchpires will be massively different than TVD canon.

Damon frowned at all the cars parked in front of the boarding house. He had reluctantly agreed to everyone crashing with him and Stefan during the storm. However, that was before he had a bloodthirsty baby vampire on his hands. She was the dangerous sort with her big green doe eyes and feigned innocence. He had no doubt that she would be able to convince Elena and the quarterback to open a vein for her even without the benefit of compulsion. Unfortunately, Bonnie was too feral to attempt feeding from someone that she didn’t want to kill. Once she had her first taste of warm human blood, she wouldn’t able to stop herself from draining the human.

The older vampire had called his brother on the drive home. Damon had explained the situation and told him to make everyone with a pulse scarce until he had Bonnie under control. Humanity-less Stefan had found the entire situation amusing. His younger brother believed that this was some sort of karma for Damon being an asshole for the nearly 200 years. However, Stefan was most amused by the things Bonnie was yelling in the background. She insisted on calling him Stefan the Ripper and kept asking him to take her feeding because Damon was being mean. The raven haired vampire really wasn’t cut out for the role of responsible adult. He was kind of regretting killing Lexi now. He could have dropped Bonnie and Stefan off on her doorstep on his way to Costa Rica.

Damon turned off the engine after parking in the garage. Then he climbed out of the car and walked around to passenger side. He opened the door and beckoned Bonnie out of the car impatiently since she was still just sitting there. “Let’s go, judgy.”

Bonnie looked up at him with mischievous green eyes. “Are you sure? You were so mean when you shoved me into the car and told me to stay put. You were all growly.”

He lifted an eyebrow at the way Bonnie was pouting at him so prettily. Yeah she was going to be a problem until they got her hunger under control. Her cute little pout didn’t have any effect on him but the humans would be putty in her murderous little hands. “Do you want blood or not?”

Bonnie blurred past Damon as soon as the question left his mouth.

Bonnie’s incredible speed caught Damon off guard. He had seen many fledgling vampires in his long life but none moved as fast as she did. Damon sped to the front door to catch up with Bonnie but relaxed when he found that Stefan had intercepted her.

Stefan stood at the door with an amused look on his face. He was holding Bonnie around the waist to prevent her from going further into the house. “I think you lost something.”

Damon huffed and pulled Bonnie away from Stefan. “Come on.”

Bonnie pouted and said, “I don’t want you. You’re mean.”

He said, “We can’t have Stefan teaching you bad habits. He doesn’t understand the concept of moderation.”

“And you do?” she laughed.

Stefan laughed and closed the door. Then he followed Damon and Bonnie through the house. He liked seeing someone put his brother through wringer.

Damon wrangled Bonnie into the kitchen and pushed her into a chair. “Stay there.”

“I am getting tired of you talking to me like a puppy, Damon,” Bonnie complained.

Stefan chuckled at the exasperated look on his brother’s face. However, he was more interested in Bonnie’s behavior. A witch in transition could be fun. They had absolutely no inhibition and were prone to hedonism. 

Caroline walked into the kitchen and rushed to Bonnie’s side. “Oh my God, Bon! What happened? Stefan only told us that Damon turned you.”

Bonnie looked at Stefan helplessly over Caroline’s shoulder. She wasn’t really in the mood for hugs and heartfelt condolences. She wanted blood—a lot of it. “I got hit by a car. I died. I saw my grams. She told me to stay with Damon.”

“She what now?” the blond vampire asked.

Damon shooed Caroline out of the way. He cut open a bag and squeezed the blood into a glass. Then he slid it toward Bonnie and nodded.

Bonnie eyed the thick liquid and turned up her nose. “I want something warm.”

Stefan barked out a laugh. “You heard the lady, Damon.”

Damon rolled his eyes. “Well, you can’t have anything warm because you’ll kill the donor.”

She pouted. “I wouldn’t do that. I swear!”

Damon looked completely unconvinced. 

She huffed and asked, “Can’t you pop it into the microwave or something?”

Stefan raised an eyebrow at Bonnie’s refusal. He would have gorged on any blood in front of him when he first turned.

Damon sing-songed, “Be a good girl and drink the blood, Bon-Bon.”

Elena walked into the kitchen. “What’s going on, Damon?”

Bonnie was out of her seat in seconds and had Elena pinned against the wall. Her nose brushed the girl’s throbbing carotid artery. Bonnie could hear the soft whoosh of Elena’s blood. 

She screamed in shock at Bonnie’s black eyes. “Bonnie?”

Damon grabbed the girl before she could sink her teeth into Elena’s slender neck. He dragged Bonnie away from Elena and glared at his younger brother. “I thought I told you to keep the breathers away from Bonnie until I got some blood in her.”

Stefan rolled his eyes. “I told Elena, Jeremy, and Matt to stay upstairs. But you know how Elena just loves throwing herself into danger...like a moth to a flame.”

Caroline moved over to Elena to protect her shaken friend.

“What happened?”

Bonnie growled. “I died? I thought that part would be obvious.”

Damon pulled the young vampire around the island and said, “Stefan bring the blood over here.”

Stefan merely chuckled and picked up the glass. He walked over to them and said, “If Bonnie doesn’t want blood from a bag, I’m sure that we could find some other way to accommodate her. It’s never too early to teach her to eat and erase.”

Bonnie struggled against Damon. “Stefan is making a lot of sense right now. Let’s listen to Stefan.”

Damon rolled his eyes. “We’re not listening to a vampire that turns his victims into a meat puzzle once he’s done with them. Sheila wouldn’t want you killing people, Bonnie.”

Her verdant eyes widened for a moment and she slowly calmed down. She huffed. “Fine! I’ll drink the gross blood from a glass.”

He pushed the glass into her hands.

Bonnie guzzled the blood down and then stared at the empty glass. “I need more blood.”

Stefan grabbed another bag of blood from the refrigerator and tossed it to Bonnie.

She dropped the empty glass and sucked down the bag of blood in seconds. “More!”

Damon said, “No.”

Bonnie twisted around in Damon’s arms so that she was facing him. She looked up at him from underneath her long eyelashes. “I’m really hungry, Damon. It feels like I haven’t eaten in days. Can’t I have a little more blood, please.”

Damon silently reiterated that Bonnie was very bad news. He wasn’t exactly crumbling because of those beautiful green eyes or her saccharine sweet voice, but he was close. He looked over at Elena and saw that she was caving.

“Maybe she could have a little of my blood,” Elena offered. She hated to see her friend suffering.

“Nope!” he declared loudly. “Bonnie and I can’t stay here. She’ll kill Elena, Jeremy, and the quarterback in no time because they are kind-hearted morons.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “I would never do that to my friends, Damon,” she pledged solemnly.

Damon just stared at her.

She gripped his shirt and feigned a hopeful look. “Don’t you believe me, Damon?”

He laughed darkly. “Not gonna happen, Bon-Bon. Those doe eyes don’t have any effect on me.”

She discreetly looked his crotch. “Are you sure about that, Damon?”

Stefan was the only one to see the move since he was behind the island with them. He chuckled. “Damn, I like her.”

Bonnie whirled around and winked at Stefan. “Really? Because you could have your meat puzzles and I could have the blood. Doesn’t that sound fun? There are going to be a lot of sitting ducks with this storm rolling through town. They’ll be trapped in their homes like little warming drawers.”

The caramel haired vampire tilted his head to the side. “They’ll be in their houses where we can’t enter without being invited.”

Bonnie looked down at her ruined clothes and grinned. She said, “Please, let me in. I need help. I was in a car accident and my boyfriend is still stuck inside the car. I need to call the police.”

Stefan’s smile grew wider. Bonnie would be the perfect lure. Who wouldn't open the door for an innocent young girl?

Damon said, “Not a chance. I’ll vervain both of you and lock you in the basement.”

Bonnie pouted at Stefan as she pulled out of Damon’s grasp. “I told you that he was being so mean to me, Stefan.”

Stefan pulled Bonnie to him and lowered his voice as he said, “It’s because he hasn’t gotten laid in awhile.”

Bonnie giggled as she leaned into Stefan. “Can vampires get blue balls? They’re probably as blue as his eyes right now since he’s been saving himself for Elena.”

Elena screeched, “That’s not true, Bonnie!”

Stefan grinned down at Bonnie. “Really? What else has been happening while I was away?”

“Sometimes Damon visits Elena at night and they lay in bed talking like the best of friends,” she recounted with a smirk. Her hands settled against Stefan’s muscled chest.

“Oh?” Stefan asked with a wry laugh. 

Damon growled, “Enough. I meant what I said. Bonnie can’t stay here.”

“See! He’s all growly again, Stefan.”

Stefan replied, “I think you're right about the blue balls.”

Caroline said, “I am coming with you. There is no way I am leaving you alone with Bonnie, Damon.”

Stefan laughed and said, “I have a better idea. You stay here and I’ll look after Bonnie. I’ve got a place close by that we can hole up in until after the storm passes. I promise to only provide blood bags…no tasty little humans.”

The blond vampire huffed. “I don’t trust you with Bonnie right now either.”

Bonnie asked, “Why? I’m already dead. What's the worst that could happen? We'll just play cards or something, right?”

Stefan’s eyes twinkled as an idea formed. “Are you any good at poker?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“Then we'll play poker,” he said with a salacious grin.

Damon rubbed at his temples. “Take her upstairs to my room, Blondie. Don’t take your eyes off her.”

Caroline walked over and said, “Come on, Bon. Your clothes are ruined and soaking wet. I might have some stuff that can fit you.”

“Keep her away from beating hearts,” Damon ordered.

“I know!” Caroline steered Bonnie out of the kitchen.

Elena waited until they were out of the kitchen. “What happened? That is not Bonnie.”

Damon said, “I don’t know. I was in Ric’s apartment when I heard a car crash. I went outside to make sure that no one hit the Camaro. That’s when I saw Bonnie on the ground. The driver hit a parked car as he sped away from the scene. Bonnie was barely breathing when I got to her but she still had a pulse. I fed her my blood and she was out of it for a few minutes. When she came to, she was confused but very much a vampire. Then something snapped when she heard Ric’s heartbeat. The rest is a complete mystery to me.”

Stefan leaned against the counter and chuckled. “It’s because she’s a witch. They go a bit weird when they’re turned.”

Elena asked, “You know a witch that has been turned?”

He nodded. “I’ve come across a couple in my long life. We’ve just got to wait and see what happens to Bonnie. Some witches lose their ability to use magic and go crazy because of the loss. Other witches manage to keep their magic and become more powerful. The downside is that they usually come unglued. Sometimes the mania only lasts a few days as the witch’s magic finds a way to acclimate to residing in a dead body.”

Elena looked stricken by Stefan’s matter of fact explanation. “Poor Bonnie. What can we do to help?”

Damon shook his head. “We have a more pressing issue than Bonnie’s sanity. This has Klaus written all over it. The car hit Bonnie on purpose…this wasn’t an accident. She’s a judgy little witch but I am assuming that she isn’t in the habit of making enemies that want her dead.”

Stefan said, “A vampire or a hybrid wouldn’t have used a car to mow Bonnie down. Klaus probably compelled a human to do the job. That means he isn’t actually in Mystic Falls or he would have done it himself.”

Damon groused, “I guess that is a silver lining.”


	3. Come Sail Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: Vampire!Bonnie behaves badly in this chapter and she is not sorry. The humble author of this chapter is not sorry either. Bonnie will be a bit of a wild child for at least a few more chapters.**

Bonnie stood in front of the bathroom mirror as she inspected her unblemished body. Damon’s blood had erased any evidence of the trauma that caused her human death. She had taken a quick shower to get rid of the blood staining her skin. It was still surreal to remember dying in the middle of the street. It was a feeling that she would never forget. Frankly, it was a feeling that she really wanted to pass along to the person that ran her down like a stray animal. She really didn’t care about the person’s reasons or motivations. Bonnie had been shown her greatest desire and it was snatched away from her just as quickly. Someone should have to share her pain. 

However, more than anything Bonnie wanted out of this house. She really wasn’t interested in being cooped up with Damon for the duration of the storm. The two of them always got on each other’s nerves. It was just the way their quasi friendship had developed. Unfortunately, Damon was being annoyingly responsible tonight. It was disconcerting and made him more annoying than normal. He seemed determined to prevent Bonnie from having any fun. The only thing that they agreed on right now was the fact that she couldn’t stay at the boarding house. Bonnie was hungry but she realized that feeding on her friends was a bad idea. She wouldn’t want to accidentally kill them. Bonnie wasn’t interested in guilt, she only wanted to have a good time. There was a little voice nagging her to do the right thing but she could easily ignore it with the blood lust thrumming in her head.

Bonnie was glad that Damon managed to salvage her purse. She was able to apply her make-up. She didn’t like what being dead did for her complexion. Bonnie wished that he had thought to get the suitcase from her car, too. It would be nice to wear her own clothes. Once Bonnie was satisfied with her appearance, she walked into Damon’s bedroom. Of course, Caroline was dutifully waiting for her. This wasn’t the time for her best friend to start listening to Damon’s commands. Had the world suddenly turned upside down? She couldn’t leave if Caroline was sitting there playing prison guard.

Caroline stood up as soon as Bonnie walked out of the bathroom. “How are you feeling, Bon?”

The girl walked over to the bed and studied the clothing options Caroline had provided. She quipped. “Still dead. Check back later for another update.”

“I know how upsetting this must be for you, Bonnie. Trust me. I’ve been where you are right now. I was scared, angry, and really hungry. But it got better because my friends were there to take care of me. We’re going to do the same thing for you.”

“I didn’t take care of you. I spelled a daylight ring for you and then left you with Stefan. Looking back, I was sort of a bitch. I was angry that you killed the guy that I liked. It was just another thing that you all had taken from me.” Bonnie dropped the towel and pulled on a floral print jersey dress. She said, “Also, you really don’t know how I feel. You wanted to live and I didn’t.”

Caroline was shocked that Bonnie had just dropped her towel without warning or a sense of modesty. She quickly averted her eyes to give her friend some privacy. “I know that being a vampire isn’t what you want, but it is better than death, Bonnie. I promise. You can still live a normal life. We’ll find a witch to make a daylight ring for you. I can teach you how to feed in moderation.”

The girl sauntered over to the mirror and pulled at the dress’ fabric. It was a little too big and not really her taste. She said, “No, you are misunderstanding me. I wanted to die because I would get to see my grams again. And I did get to see her for a moment.”

“You mentioned that in the kitchen. Miss Sheila told you to stay with Damon?”

Bonnie pulled off the dress and tossed it over her head. She walked over to Damon’s bed and studied the other options that Caroline had put forth. “Among other things.”

“Why would she want you to stay with Damon? She wasn’t exactly his biggest fan,” Caroline pointed out. She wondered if Bonnie really saw Sheila or if it was some sort of post death hallucination.

Bonnie put on a black denim skirt and a red tank top with eyelet trim. Then she walked over to the mirror again. She angled her body in a few different directions before deciding that she liked the look.

She shrugged at her friend and said, “I don’t know, Care. She said something about late night visits. It didn’t make any sense to me but I was lingering between life and death at the time. Maybe something got lost in translation. Anyway, I wanted to stay there with grams but she made me leave. She didn’t want me. She’s just like everyone else.”

Caroline’s heart broke for her friend. “I’m sure that’s not true, Bonnie. Miss Sheila would want you to live a good life. She loved you so much. When we were kids, I used to wish that I had that sort of relationship with my grandmother.”

Bonnie was barely listening to Caroline. She was still studying her appearance in the mirror. She kept wondering what her body had looked like after the car plowed into her. Bonnie’s eyes darkened as she remembered the face of the man driving the SUV. She knew that face well and had never been fond of the man. Now he had run her down in the middle of the street. The veins beneath Bonnie’s turned black and began to ripple wildly. 

She took a deep breath and forced away those dark thought for now. She turned around to face Caroline and asked,  “What do you think?”

“You look great, Bon.” The blond haired vampire was trying to hide her apprehension. However, she was worried about Bonnie. More importantly, she felt guilty about never noticing Bonnie’s depression. It was the only conclusion she could come to after to listening to her friend talk about wanting to die. She wondered how long Bonnie had felt that way.

“Thanks!” The girl smiled. She walked into Damon’s closet and looked for a jacket.

Caroline said, “I am worried about you, Bonnie. Would you talk to me, please? I just want to help you. Sometimes talking really helps.”

“I know that you are trying to help me, Caroline. I really appreciate it. I am just a little spacey right now. Everything feels so different. Everything is brighter, louder, and more intense.” Bonnie emerged from the closet wearing Damon’s black collarless motorcycle jacket. She pulled Caroline into a hug.

“I get it. The enhanced senses of a vampire can be difficult to handle at first. It’s like having sensory overload but you will slowly adjust to it,” she promised.

Bonnie snapped Caroline’s neck without warning and watched with disinterest as her body dropped onto the floor. She stared at her friend’s body for a long moment before, scooping her up with ease. Then she put Caroline into Damon’s bed. “I’m sorry, Care. I really need to get out of here. I hope you’ll forgive me later.”

Bonnie tucked Caroline into bed while humming Nina Simone’s Sinnerman. Afterwards, she sat on the side of the bed and pulled on her black leather ankle boots. Leaving out the front door wasn’t an option. Damon and Stefan would be on top of her as soon as she walked downstairs. She would just have to make her own exit.

She turned off the bedroom’s lights and then opened the window. A chilled gust of wind blew into the window immediately. Bonnie looked at the ground and shrugged. It would be a significant drop but she probably could have survived the fall as a human, too. Bonnie jumped out of the window and landed clumsily. She slowly got to her feet and brushed the snow off her clothes. She gave the boarding house a look over her shoulder and then took off into the night.

Bonnie ran through the woods as she headed back toward town. Her first stop would be to Mr. Thompson’s house. He was a math teacher at the high school. He was also the person that killed Bonnie. It seemed only fair that he would be her first meal. He was really the perfect candidate. Mr. Thompson lived alone. Bonnie didn’t have to worry about turning on an innocent bystander if she confronted him at his house.

The baby vampire stopped abruptly when she heard a twig snap in the distance. Her head whipped around as she tried to locate the origin of the sound. She really didn’t feel like dealing with Damon. He wasn’t as easy to manipulate as she thought he would be. Bonnie guessed he was only a complete dupe for the Petrova doppelgangers. 

Stefan sped up to Bonnie and slammed her into a tree. He drank in her appearance with a hungry stare. His gaze was particularly drawn to her braless breasts hidden beneath the thin tank top. “This doesn’t look like Damon’s bedroom. Someone is being a very naughty vampire.”

Bonnie batted her eyelashes at Stefan and grabbed onto his shirt. “You saw how mean Damon was being to me. He’s totally willing to let me starve. You don’t want to let me starve…do you, Stefan?”

“No. We can’t have you going hungry,” Stefan replied with a smirk. “Where are you headed? I could go for a bite, too.”

She toyed with the buttons on Stefan’s shirt with an innocent smile. “Well, I was thinking that I might pay Mr. Thompson a visit since he’s the person that killed me. Turnabout is fair play and all of that.”

Stefan gave her a questioning look. He and Bonnie were both in the man’s Algebra II/Trigonometry class. “Thompson? Are you sure about that?”

“It’s not likely that I would forget the person that hit me with a freaking car.” She paused for a beat and forced down her simmering rage. She added, “I tried to get out the way of his car, but he swerved to hit me anyway.”

“Sounds like Klaus compelled him to kill you,” Stefan pointed out. He wanted to see just how committed Bonnie was to this idea. He wasn’t interested in her getting cold feet and ruining his night. However, he didn’t need to worry about that. 

Bonnie rolled her eyes at him. “Duh. But he would still make a good snack. Besides, he’s always been a creep. I had to move to the back of the class because he likes staring at my legs whenever I wear skirts. Pervert.” 

He vaguely remembered Bonnie changing seats but hadn’t known why she did.  

“Are you coming with me? Or are you going to be a killjoy like Damon?”

He grinned at Bonnie and said, “Let’s go but we’ll take my car. You’ll tire out running all the way there. You haven’t fed enough to expend that sort of energy.”

“Won’t Damon hear your car leaving?” she asked with furrowed eyebrows.

He smirked and said, “He thinks I’m headed to my cabin to wait out the storm. He’s just glad that I won’t be here to be a bad influence on you. FYI, he decided to stay at the boarding house but he was going to lock you in his bedroom the whole time.”

Bonnie pouted prettily. “Rude! I haven’t done anything worthy of being a prisoner...yet.”

Stefan chuckled, “Exactly. Damon has no idea how to treat a lady.”

“And you do?” she asked with a sultry laugh.

Stefan enjoyed the tingle that went up his spine at the sound of her voice. He performed an elaborate bow. “Well, of course I do, Miss Bonnie. After all I was raised to be a genuine southern gentleman.”

Bonnie smirked and quipped, “I hope you won’t be a gentleman the entire time.” 

Stefan didn’t bother replying because he had no intention of being a gentleman tonight. He swept Bonnie off her feet with a wink. The next moment they were racing through the forest at superhuman speed. Stefan only slowed down once they were inside the garage. He deposited Bonnie in his car and then slipped into the driver’s seat. “I brought some blood bags. Those should keep you happy until we get to Thompson’s house.”

Bonnie screeched happily and kissed his cheek. She reached into the backset and retrieved a couple blood bags. “You are the best! I don’t know why Grams said not to trust you. She was all stay with Damon and don’t open Klaus’ coffins because his mother is a bitch or whatever.”

Stefan watched in amusement as Bonnie plowed through three bags in less than a minute. He drove away from the boarding house and pointed the car toward town. He had a vague remembrance of where Mr. Thompson lived. He knew the man lived on the same street as Caroline did. “What else did she say?”

Bonnie grabbed another bag and tried to remember everything Sheila said to her. However, the thirst for blood was seriously hampering her ability to recall. “She told me to find a doctor that can help us banish Klaus. We can’t kill him because a vampire’s life is tied to an original vampire’s bloodline. If we kill an original every vampire in his bloodline dies with him.”

The vampire grinned like a mad man. Klaus had made a mistake by trying to kill the witch. She was a Bennett and he had no doubt that she would retain her magic. A Bennett witchpire would be a pretty good weapon to use against the original hybrid. “Well, we can’t let that happen. It would be just our luck that we’re from Klaus’ bloodline.”

She nodded while guzzling down another bag.

Stefan turned to Bonnie while they were stopped at a traffic light. He ran his thumb over her chin to collect some of the wasted blood. “Well, aren’t you a messy eater.”

She watched as the vampire proceeded to lick the blood from his thumb. Bonnie said, “That was hot…”

He chuckled darkly as the light changed to green.

Bonnie looked longingly at the last remaining blood bag in the backseat. She pouted at Stefan. “Can’t you drive any faster? It’s not as if a car crash would make us any more dead than we already are.”

Stefan rested a hand on her thigh and gently stroked the exposed skin. “I’m going to make sure you get everything you need, Bonnie. Trust me?”

She looked at his hand and then looked up at his face. “Not on your undead life, Ripper.”

He grinned. “Smart girl...but you will.”

Bonnie’s legs instinctively fell open when Stefan’s hand disappeared beneath her skirt. She whimpered softly. “What are you doing?”

“Distracting you with a different kind of hunger,” he replied casually. 

His fingers carefully explored Bonnie beneath her skirt. Stefan smiled when he realized that Bonnie wasn’t wearing any panties. It was a fortuitous surprise. He was also pleased when she didn’t push him away. However, he had known that she wouldn’t. Witches in transition lost their inhibition and were mired in hedonism. They craved more of all the pleasures in life. Stefan always assumed it was because so many of them truly behaved as servants of nature. Being turned into something so unnatural freed them from that servitude. 

Bonnie quickly learned that Stefan was right. Her blood lust cooled once her brain was focused on what his fingers were doing to her. There was a little voice in the back of her head that said she should put a stop to this. It was the same little voice that told her to obey Damon in the kitchen. Bonnie quickly shoved that stupid voice into the darkest corner of her mind. 

Stefan pushed the girl’s borrowed skirt up so that it pooled near her waist. He wanted a clear line of sight while be made her squirm against his fingers.

Several minutes passed while Bonnie was focused on the pleasure rippling through her. Her head whipped in Stefan’s direction when he pulled his hand away from her. “Why did you stop?”

The vampire smirked and nodded his head to the car parked in front of them. It had a busted windshield. Stefan could actually see Bonnie’s blood on the car.  “We’re at Mr. Thompson’s house.”

Bonnie said, “Oh.”

He chuckled and leaned closer so that his lips were against her ear. “Do you want me to help you finish first, Bonnie?”

She shivered at the way he said her name. She shook her head. “Blood first.”

Stefan grinned and then kissed her. “Atta girl. Let’s go get your first kill.”

Bonnie smoothed down her skirt and climbed out of Stefan’s vintage Mustang.

He hopped out of the car and followed Bonnie up to the door. “I should knock…I mean you are supposed to be dead. We wouldn’t want to spook your meal.”

“Fine.” When they made it to the front porch, she stood out of view of the door.

Stefan winked at Bonnie and then knocked on the door.

There was some shuffling inside the house and then the door opened. Ned looked at Stefan with shock and concern. “You shouldn’t be out on a night like this, Mr. Salvatore. The roads are dangerous. Is something the matter?”

Stefan grinned and leaned forward to compel the man. “Well, you could say that there is a bit of an emergency. There’s been a terrible accident.”

Bonnie stepped into view and grinned at the older man.

Stefan said, “Invite me and Bonnie into your house, Mr. Thompson.”

In a monotone voice, the man said, “Please, come in.”

Bonnie sped into the house and slammed Ned into the wall. The impact was so powerful that she left a Ned shaped hole in the wall. Bonnie’s eyes turned dark as the night sky as her fangs descended. She bit into the man’s neck as he screamed in terror.

Stefan laughed as he closed the front door. The night was young and he planned to make the most of it. 


	4. Dinner For Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked a great question about the last chapter. Yes, Stefan has his humanity off right now. This story vaguely takes place in Season 3 of TVD. It’s some time after Stefan steals Klaus’ coffins but before Abby is introduced. However, in my version of events Stefan is still compelled to keep his humanity off and to babysit Elena. 
> 
>  
> 
> **Warning! NSFW. There is violence in this chapter but it isn’t too graphic. There is also smut in this chapter but it’s not very graphic either. I will give the warning that I often give on smut/lemons I don’t write it well but the story sort of requires it. **

Stefan stood back for a moment and admired Bonnie’s feeding technique. It was an awkward angle because of the height difference but she had wrenched the taller man’s head downward for easier access. Then she latched onto Thompson’s neck with the ferocity of a lioness and didn’t let go. The tiny girl refused to release her meal despite how desperately the man flailed and struggled against her. He tried to gurgle nonsensical words as Bonnie drained his body of blood. Frankly, it just made the scene more hilarious in Stefan’s humble opinion. In fact, he was so amused by Bonnie’s enthusiasm that he nearly missed the hybrid trying to sneak up on him. 

Nearly was the correct term because Stefan detected the hybrid seconds after they entered the house. The smell of hybrids was seared into his brain after his long summer as Klaus’ henchman. He had only been waiting for the hybrid to make his or her presence known before deciding how to act. He was rather interested in what orders Klaus had given with regards to him. For some maddening reason, the original hybrid refused to believe that their once friendship was truly over. Klaus seemingly had no understanding of the consequences for burning one’s bridges. Perhaps it was because his codependent siblings always forgave his cruel whims. Not even stealing Klaus’ daggered family had truly turned him against Stefan. He was angry to be sure but not enough to kill him--yet.

Stefan whirled around to face the hybrid that was trying to ambush him. The strawberry blond man looked to be in his 30’s and was a few inches shorter than Stefan was. However, he was a burly man with muscles to spare. Stefan had been hoping for one of the hybrids from the backwoods. They had all been slender men that would have been easier for him to subdue.

The man’s eyes widened when he realized that Stefan had baited him into getting too close. His orders from Klaus were clear. He was only supposed to incapacitate Stefan. His sire wanted the rebelling vampire brought to him. 

Stefan swept the man’s legs out from underneath him and the two men crashed onto the floor. He smashed his forearm into the man’s face to stun him and then tried to snap his neck. 

The hybrid roared and threw Stefan off his body. He flew across the room and slammed into a bookcase. Many of the shelves buckled or snapped because of the sudden impact. Stefan and a few dozen books crashed onto the floor with a loud clatter. 

However, Bonnie didn't seem the least bit concerned by the commotion. She was too busy gorging on blood to care about Stefan’s predicament.

Stefan’s bell had officially been rung. For a moment, he saw two of everything. Quickly, the vampire sprang to his feet and grabbed a piece of wood from the broken bookcase. He rushed at the hybrid and tried to stake him. Stefan wanted the opportunity to talk to the man but killing him seemed the better course at this point. 

The hybrid punched Stefan and slapped the improvised stake from his hand. 

Unfortunately, the stake sailed across the room and thumped Bonnie on the back. It didn’t hurt the fledgling vampire, but it certainly pissed her off. Bonnie slowly removed her fangs from Thompson’s neck and let his corpse slide to the floor. Then she turned around to watch Stefan and the hybrid fighting. She had ignored the commotion before now because her blood lust had been too great. Bonnie figured that Stefan was a big boy and could fight his own battles. As she watched the burly hybrid kick his ass, Bonnie decided that perhaps she had overestimated him or underestimated the opponent. In anycase, someone was going to pay for interrupting her very first hot meal as a vampire. Since the hybrid was probably the one that compelled Thompson to kill her, Bonnie decided that he would be the lucky winner. 

She held her hand out towards the fighting men. Instantly, the hybrid faltered as the blood vessels in his brain began bursting faster than his body could heal them. The psionic attack was so powerful that he began bleeding from his ears and nose. Then Bonnie raised her other hand and jerked it to the side violently. 

Stefan took a step back and marveled as both of the hybrid’s legs broke at the knees simultaneously. He watched as his arms broke similarly at the elbows and the shoulders. Stefan felt smug because he had predicted that Bonnie would keep her magic. A powerful Bennett witch with absolutely no inhibitions would be fun. He was already thinking of ways they could use Bonnie’s magic. 

The hybrid collapsed onto the floor and writhed in pain. His screams echoed in the otherwise silent room. However, his broken limbs were the least of his worries. Currently, it felt as if his brain was on fire.

Bonnie strode over to the writhing hybrid and drove her booted foot into his face hard enough to dislocate his right eye.

Stefan laughed heartily and walked over to Bonnie. The vampire hadn't been so attracted to a girl in a long time. He pulled Damon’s leather jacket off her shoulders. He could do without his new playmate smelling like his brother. Then Stefan slid his hands underneath the tank top. His hands traveled higher until they reached her breasts. Stefan kissed Bonnie’s neck while she continued to attack the hybrid’s brain. “Are you going to kill him?”

The poor bastard couldn’t even scream any longer. His body just jerked and twitched uncontrollably as if he was having a seizure. 

Bonnie squirmed against Stefan as her body reacted to his touches. She released a shaky breath and shook her head. “Not yet...I’m still hungry. Have you fed from a hybrid before?”

“No, but I’ve killed a few by ripping out their throats,” he murmured against Bonnie’s neck. Meanwhile, his fingers had roused Bonnie’s nipples into stiff peaks. He enjoyed how responsive her body was to him. 

“How is it?” she asked. 

Stefan hummed as he thought about her question. He replied, “Not as good as human blood but better than blood from a normal vampire. You could probably still get some blood out of Thompson.”

Bonnie snapped her fingers and the hybrid’s neck twisted until it broke. She pouted and explained, “I was interrupted by your fight but there wasn’t much blood left in him.” 

Stefan slowly pulled off Bonnie’s tank top and spun her around. He took a moment to admire her breasts before he said, “There’s much that I can teach you about feeding. Vampires tend to be wasteful. Once blood stops flowing out of the artery, we dispose of the carcass like an empty juice box. Few consider the role that gravity plays in our anatomy. As the heart stops pumping the blood starts to obey the laws of gravity. It pools in the lower half of the body.”

The girl’s eyes moved across the room to Thompson’s dead body. Bonnie licked her lips and savored the blood that was just beginning to dry. She suggested, “His femoral artery?” 

“Smart girl. There’s at least another couple pints of blood waiting for you. It’s one of the reasons I started ripping my victims apart. It’s wasteful not to use all of the pig,” he replied while unzipping Bonnie’s skirt.

Bonnie snorted as Stefan rationalized his savagery. She wiggled her hips until the denim skirt slid down her legs and pooled around her feet. Then she toed off her boots. 

She looked at Thompson’s body with a feral expression. She needed more blood. Bonnie purred, “Yes, I’m sure you are deeply concerned about the environment, Ripper.” 

Stefan shamelessly ground his clothed erection against Bonnie. “Our kind will survive far longer than the humans. We have to do our part to save the planet, Bonnie.” 

She gasped as Stefan’s hand cupped her mound. Bonnie leaned heavily onto the vampire. Once again he had distracted the girl from her blood lust. Her mind was warring over which hunger should take precedence. Bonnie’s overwhelming bloodlust made her feel like a bottomless pit. She wondered how much blood would be needed to satisfy her hungry. Yet she also craved what Stefan was offering. 

Stefan could almost see the debate playing out in Bonnie’s head. He silently willed her to make the choice that ended with him buried inside her.

Bonnie stepped away from Stefan and turned around. She flashed a mischievous grin at him. “Elena will be so disappointed in you seducing her best friend.”

The vampire rolled his eyes at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. He took off his shirt and said, “She’ll survive...or she won’t. I really don’t care. Damon will be there to comfort her.”

She watched Stefan take off his pants and decided that blood could wait a little longer. She walked over to the hybrid and punched her fist through his chest. Bonnie grasped the hybrid’s heart and ripped it out with ease. She did not want the man reanimating while she and Stefan were getting better acquainted. Bonnie examined the heart with innocent curiosity before dropping it on the floor.

Stefan chuckled evilly and picked up Bonnie as if she weighed nothing. He never considered just how tiny the girl was until now. He sped them across the room and deposited her on the couch with an exaggerated flourish. He was pleased with his decision to go after Bonnie tonight. If he had to be stuck in Mystic Falls, he wanted a partner in crime like her to make it more bearable. She might even be able to help him shake off the hold Klaus had on him. The bastard had compelled him to keep his humanity switch firmly in the off position. Stefan didn’t mind that part much but he hated being compelled to act as Elena’s babysitter. It was cutting into his ability to have fun.

Bonnie watched with wide eyes as Stefan removed his boxers. 

Stefan’s green eyes settled on Bonnie and he noticed that she looked uncertain. He followed her gaze down to his manhood and released a dirty chuckle. He spread Bonnie’s legs and kneeled on the couch. Stefan took a moment to admire her arousal. Then he said, “Let me guess...Jeremy doesn’t measure up?” 

She swallowed thickly and slowly dragged her eyes away from his crotch. She met his gaze and shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen...we’ve never…”

He chuckled. Then something occurred to him. He felt a fresh wave of arousal even considering it. Stefan stroked Bonnie’s thighs to keep her calm. “Never with him or never at all?”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “Never...at all.”

The vampire sucked in an unnecessary breath in response. Stefan wanted to pin Bonnie down and claim her now so that no other could. Yet he realized that action could also scare her away. Newly turned vampire or not she was still a teenage girl. Stefan refused to lose his new partner in crime because he was too impatient. He said, “We don't have to do this.”

The girl gave him a scathing look. He had started this on the drive over here. There was no way that she would back out now...no matter how large the challenge facing her. To drive home her point, Bonnie took his manhood into her hands.

He let out something between a growl and a moan as Bonnie stroked him. Her fumbling technique left a lot to be desired but just feeling her hands on him was enough to drive him insane. 

Bonnie’s confidence grew leaps and bounds as Stefan bucked into her grasp. She felt almost smug watching the dark look taking over him. He looked dangerous in that moment. Bonnie’s movements faltered when his fingers slid inside her. She let out a mewl of pleasure.

Stefan enjoyed retaking the advantage. He intended to be the one in control of this night. However, he also had a practical reason. He needed to prepare Bonnie or the night would end quickly. Stefan didn't want to hurt her. He also didn't want to know what she might do to him if he did. The girl had very little self control right now and she was powerful. Bonnie could kill him without even meaning to do it. The inherent danger of the situation made Stefan want her more. 

He took his time with Bonnie and watched her fall apart beneath him. Her saw her body began to tremble and knew her peak wouldn't be far behind. Stefan’s fingers quickened as he pushed her over the edge. His other hand moved up her rib cage. His thumb stroked a crescent shaped birthmark just below her breast. It reminded him of the birthmark on his left shoulder blade.

Bonnie gave a strangled cry as every lightbulb in the house shattered. She looked up at Stefan with a sheepish expression. “I’m sorry...I-I-I don’t know how that happened.” 

Stefan chuckled quietly and slowly removed his fingers. Then he leaned down to kiss Bonnie possessively. He could practically smell her magic permeating the air. It made him want to devour her all the more. He broke the kiss and bit into her neck with a groan. Just as Stefan expected, Bonnie's blood was infused with her magic. His tongue tingled as her blood rushed into his mouth. He drove into Bonnie, his patience having evaporated long ago. 

The girl’s sharp cry of pain made Stefan stop moving. He pulled away from her neck to look into her eyes. Instead of the green he had become used to, Bonnie’s eyes were as black as the night sky with flecks that appeared almost metallic. 

Bonnie looked up at Stefan in confusion. She didn’t understand why he stopped. “Stefan…”

Stefan shook off his shock. He buried his fangs and manhood into Bonnie again with renewed purpose. 


	5. X Marks The Spot

Caroline woke up with a start an hour later. She sat up in the strange bed and looked around the darkened room in confusion. For a moment, Caroline couldn’t remember where she was or what happened. However, she quickly realized that this was Damon’s room. The blond-haired vampire threw the blanket off her body and jumped out of the bed as if bitten by a snake. She shuddered in disgust at the mere idea that she had been in Damon’s bed for any length of time. Caroline couldn’t think of a reason why she would even be in his bedroom.

Suddenly, Caroline’s memories came rushing back to her in a flood. She had been in Damon’s room watching Bonnie. The last thing that she remembered was hugging the shorter the girl after she finished dressing. Caroline thought she had really gotten through to her friend. Caroline realized then that Bonnie must have snapped her neck while they were hugging. Her mind immediately went to their human friends in the boarding house. She shuddered to think what a bloodthirsty baby vampire would do without anyone to stop her. Caroline ripped the bedroom door open and raced downstairs in search of her friends. She gasped out, “Where’s Bonnie?”

Everyone gathered in the living room looked at Caroline with various levels of shock. Their argument stopped abruptly at the mention of Bonnie. The newly made vampire had been the topic of discussion. No one was comfortable with Damon taking responsibility for Bonnie for a variety of fairly valid reasons.

Elena ran over to her friend because of the stricken expression on her face. “What’s wrong Caroline? What’s wrong with Bonnie?”

Jeremy huffed and quipped, “Other than the obvious?”

Damon glared at the teen. He was done defending his decision to save Bonnie. Did they expect him to leave the girl dying in the middle of the street? Maybe he would have done that when he first returned to Mystic Falls but not now. Damon and Bonnie were reluctant friends. Moreover, she was integral to defeating Klaus. Everyone else had been decidedly useless on that front. Even Stefan’s bright idea of stealing Klaus’ coffins had only widened the target on their backs.  

“She’s gone!” Caroline screeched. “We were hugging one moment and the next I was waking up in Damon’s bed. No one has seen her?”

Damon straightened up from his casual lean against the fireplace. “You had one job, Blondie!”

Caroline glared at him. “I wasn’t expecting Bonnie to snap my neck! She’s...she’s not herself right now, Damon. Maybe she hasn’t been herself for a while.”

She couldn’t stop thinking about how depressed Bonnie must have been to welcome death. It scared Caroline more than she could explain. She wanted to share the information with someone but it felt like a violation of Bonnie’s trust. 

Jeremy’s eyes narrowed in concern and he asked, “What does that mean?” 

Matt said, “Arguing isn’t going to help us find Bonnie. She couldn’t have left the house. We would have all heard her.”

Tyler nodded in agreement. “I would have smelled her. She must still be upstairs.”

The doppelganger said, “We should go search for her. She’s probably freaking out right now.”

Caroline nodded in agreement. She bit her lip and decided it was best to come clean. Their friends needed to know the state of mind Bonnie might be in now.  “Bon was so upset earlier. She told me that she wanted to die but that Miss Sheila sent her back. I’ve never seen Bonnie like that before.”

Matt looked heartbroken by Caroline’s confession. It seemed that he and Bonnie were in the same boat. Losing Vicki again had been almost too much for him to bear. When she was forced back onto the Other Side, there was part of Matt that wanted to follow. Of course that wasn’t an option for him because he was human. If Matt died he wouldn’t be reunited with his sister. He didn’t know where he might end up. 

Damon rolled his eyes at the Scooby Doo Gang. “Did you happen to notice if any of the windows in my bedroom were open, Blondie?”

She stopped and thought about it. “Yes, but I don’t see why that…” Caroline’s eyes widened. “No. Bonnie wouldn’t jump out of a window. Would she?”

Damon glared at Caroline because he didn’t have anyone else to blame. He should have watched Bonnie himself. He snapped, “She’s a hungry vampire with an attitude problem. What do you think?”

Caroline said, “Then she’s on foot and we’ll find her. She can’t use her speed for very long since she hasn’t had very much blood.”

The older vampire sighed heavily. He shouldn’t have trusted Stefan. His annoying brother had surrendered too easily. Stefan had been a persistent pain in his ass since losing his humanity. “I am pretty sure that our little Bon-Bon isn’t on foot. Stefan left earlier. I would bet my last bottle of bourbon that he picked her up.”

Ric groaned. “Just to recap we have your ripper inclined humanity-less brother on the loose with a very hungry very impressionable newborn vampire…”

“Don’t forget angry. Bonnie was angry, too. She snapped my neck,” Caroline added.

Damon nodded. “That about sums it up.”

Matt grabbed his coat. “We’ve got to fan out and find the two of them before they literally paint the town red.”

The raven haired vampire rolled his eyes. “Maybe all of you are willing to drive around Mystic Falls looking for Butch and the Sundance kid but I’m not.”

Elena looked at him with disappointment. “Innocent people could get hurt, Damon. Stefan and Bonnie will never forgive themselves once they’re back to normal. We have to do something.”

“I didn’t say that we shouldn’t do anything. I said that I wasn’t about to drive aimlessly around Mystic Falls looking for them. If Sheila wants to me look after her granddaughter then she is going to have give me some help. I am going to go to the Old Witch House and see if anyone’s home.”

Ric said, “Uh, don’t they hate you?”

“Yep. But for some reason they thought it was a good idea to leave Bonnie in my care. They had to have known that she was going to go all fruit loops on us.”

Elena said, “I just don’t understand why Stefan would take off with Bonnie.”

Ric had a few ideas but remained silent.

Damon said, “You’re with me, Blondie. Bonnie actually likes you and you aren't as easy to kill as the rest of the Scooby Doo Gang.”

Jeremy pushed forward. “I am coming with you.”

Damon picked the boy up by his shirt and dropped him onto the couch. “No. You are warm blood for her to drink. Besides, she still seemed pretty pissed about you cheating on her with Casper the Friendly Ghost.”

Ric winced and said, “Damon is right, Jeremy. Maybe you should just sit this one out. Damon will find Bonnie.”

Caroline followed Damon out of the house.

Elena rushed after them. “I’m coming with you.”

The raven-haired vampire scowled at her. “Did you not hear what I just said to Little Gilbert? Bonnie snapped Caroline’s neck to get what she wanted. She’s not in her right mind right now. You can’t count on your friendship with Bonnie to save your life. Stay here. I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”

“I just feel like I should be doing something.”

“You are. You are going to stay here just in case Bonnie and my little bro come back,” Damon replied. He walked into the garage and climbed into his car. “Come on, Blondie! So little time, so many innocent townspeople they could be eating by now.”

Caroline gave Elena a sympathetic look and then raced off to join Damon.

He pealed out of the garage as soon as Caroline was in the car. He complained, “I try to do a good thing by saving Bonnie’s life and it all goes pear shaped. This is why I don’t do nice things.”

“That’s what I can’t figure out. Why would you try to save Bonnie? The two of you aren’t actually friends and you’ve never done a selfless thing in your life. If that wasn’t weird enough, Miss Sheila’s ghost tells Bonnie to stay with you. Of course Bonnie does the exact opposite because she’s angry. She wanted to stay dead with Miss Sheila but she made her come back to us.”

Damon rolled his eyes as he finally figured out some of what was happening with Bonnie. Sheila’s intentions might have been good but it felt like rejection to the girl. The one person that Bonnie thought loved her made her leave. This was more than a witch going off the rails after being turned into a vampire. Bonnie was an even bigger wild card than he initially thought. He really wasn’t equipped to handle all of this.

Caroline looked over at the harried expression on Damon’s face. She tried to think of encouraging words but the two of them just didn’t get along. However, Caroline felt that she needed to do something because Bonnie needed him. “If Miss Sheila trusts you to take care of Bonnie, then I trust you, too. You can do this, Damon.”

He raised an eyebrow at the girl and huffed out a laugh. “You suck at pep talks, Blondie. I would have thought that you would be better at that considering you are a cheerleader.”

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “It’s not like you are giving me very much to work with.”

He snorted and relaxed marginally. Damon sped along the snow-covered roads. Fortunately, the roads were deserted so it didn’t matter if he swerved a bit when taking curves.

Damon parked near the road when they arrived at the old house. He searched his glove compartment for a map. Then he climbed out of the car and said, “Let’s go.”

Caroline trekked through the snow with Damon. She hoped that they could find Bonnie and Stefan before the weather got any worse.

The walls of the house began to rattle when Damon walked inside. He growled. “Look! I know that you don’t want me here but you’d better get over it if you want me to stop your great-great-grandwitch from massacring the entire town.”

The house started shifting beneath their feet and the wind whipped around them violently.

Caroline grabbed onto Damon’s arm to steady herself. “Miss Sheila! Are you here? Bonnie is in real trouble! She’s with Stefan and he doesn’t have his humanity on right now.”

“They won’t just stop with Mystic Falls. You know what my brother did in Chicago. That vampire is currently teaching your little witch what it means to be a vampire. I think that we can all agree that I am the lesser of two evils in this situation,” Damon yelled to be heard over the noise.

The house stilled once more and an ethereal white light appeared out of thin air. Sheila Bennett stood before them. “How could you let this happen, Damon Salvatore? I told Bonnie to stay with you. I told her that you would keep her safe. Instead you let your unhinged brother run off with my grandbaby.”

Damon rolled his eyes. “Hey. She snapped Blondie’s neck and jumped out of a second story window. Let’s just say that your precious little grandwitch was very motivated. She was mostly motivated by the fact that you rejected her.”

Sheila’s features hardened. “Watch your mouth, Salvatore. I didn’t reject Bonnie. I just told her that she still had a life to live. It wasn’t time for her to join me yet. Perhaps she wouldn’t have taken it so poorly if you were honest with her. She might not feel so lonely if she knew how you felt.”

“What does that even mean?” he snapped in frustration.

“Why do you keep showing up in my granddaughter’s bedroom at night?” she asked bluntly.

Caroline’s jaw dropped. “What?”

Damon said, “I just wanted to make sure that Klaus didn’t kill her. Fat lot of good that did me after tonight.”

Sheila laughed. “I would have thought that you would be a better liar after living for so long.”

He ground out, “Are you going to help us? If not I will have to start searching for the trail of bodies they are leaving around town.”

She motioned for the map under his arm. “Spread it out on the floor and put a few drops of your blood on it. I will track your brother. Hopefully, they are still together.”

Caroline said, “They’re probably together. Bonnie seemed to be uh…interested in Stefan.”

Damon spread the map out on the ground and said, “She was only trying to get more blood after I told her she couldn’t have more.”

The blonde haired vampire huffed. “Yeah. You keep telling yourself that.”

He slowed and considered if Caroline could be right.

Sheila smirked knowingly. “Table your jealousy until after you find my granddaughter.”

Damon bit into his wrist and allowed his blood to drip onto the map.”

The house began to shake again and the drops of blood started moving to a single point on the map.

Caroline crouched down to get a closer look. She took out her phone and shined a light on the map. “That’s my street. Why would they be on my street?”

Damon grabbed the map and said, “We’re going to find out, Blondie. Go call the rest of the Scooby Doo Gang.”

“We’re going to bring Bonnie home safely, Miss Sheila.”

“Thank you, Caroline.” She waited until Caroline was out of the house. “Bonnie is going to need your help to exile Klaus. She needs you. So pull it together and deal with your feelings for Bonnie. You wouldn’t be my first pick for my granddaughter but the two of you are fated just as the doppelgangers are fated. I had hoped that Bonnie had escaped the curse but her powers have grown exponentially since my death.”

Damon stared at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

She said, “I will tell you the same thing that I told Bonnie. You need to find Dr. Jo Laughlin. She is a doctor at the hospital in McKinley. She can explain everything. Now you have to go.”

He grumbled and stormed out of the house. “This is why I hate witches.”

Caroline was already in the car by the time that Damon walked outside. She said, “Ric and Tyler are going to meet us over there just in case we need help.”

Damon climbed into the car and sped away from the old witch house. “Great.”

The drive was blissfully quiet for a few minutes. Finally, Caroline couldn’t help herself. “Why have you been stalking Bonnie?”

He gritted out, “I have not been stalking Bonnie. I was just making sure that she was safe. We’re screwed if we don’t have a witch to help us defeat Klaus.”

“Miss Sheila….”

He cut her off. “Miss Sheila is a nosey old witch with nothing better to do than spy on her granddaughter. I think she’s the creepy one out of the two of us.”

Caroline shook her head. “Nope. It’s still you by a mile. I mean she is just watching over Bonnie. Who knows what you are doing while you watch Bonnie sleep?”

“Do you want your neck snapped for the second time tonight?” he threatened.

She gave him a scathing look but wisely kept her mouth closed.

Damon stopped when he spotted Stefan’s vintage Mustang. However, his eyes quickly moved to the car parked in front of it. The windshield was smashed and Damon could see streaks of blood.

Caroline clapped a hand over her mouth and gasped. “That’s the car the hit Bonnie? But…but this is Mr. Thompson’s house.”

“Who is Mr. Thompson?” asked Damon as he climbed out of the car.

“He’s a math teacher and the wrestling coach at the high school.” Caroline climbed out of the car and followed him up to the house. “How are we supposed to get into the house?”

“Thompson is dead by now which means there is no longer a human owner.” To prove his point Damon twisted the door knob until it broke. He pushed the door open and walked into the house with no interference. Damon heard music as soon as he opened the door.

The living room looked as if it had been ransacked. There was smashed furniture and body sized holes in the walls. He followed the heavy scent of blood until he reached the den. The room looked like a horror show. Coach Thompson and another man had been drained, ripped, apart and lovingly reassembled. Their corpses were posed on a couch. A third male body was on the ground. However, he had his heart ripped out and the grayish discoloration identified him as a vampire or a hybrid.

However, the most unnerving scene was perhaps the blood soaked couple lounging on the other couch across the room. Stefan was sprawled out on the couch shirtless and with his jeans undone. He was carding his fingers through Bonnie’s wavy hair.

Bonnie was dressed in only an unbuttoned dress shirt and she was resting her head on Stefan’s lap. It looked as if she had fallen asleep. There were several empty liquor bottles cluttering the floor.

Caroline gasped quietly as she looked at the dead bodies.

Stefan said, “Good of you to join us, brother.”

Damon walked further into the room and tried to ignore the jealousy welling up inside of him. What did he care what the judgy little witch and his brother got up to in their spare time?

Before Damon could even open his mouth he heard a car door closing outside. He looked at Caroline. “Go stall them.”

Caroline ran to the front door to delay their friends.

He said, “You’ve had your fun now, Brother. The man that killed Bonnie is dead now. I am assuming the dead vampire probably compelled him to do it. I’m not sure who that poor schmuck is but the point is…this needs to stop. You don’t want to turn Bonnie into a ripper. You don’t want her carrying around that guilt like you do.”

Stefan chuckled. “I don’t know about that she saw the artistry in reassembling the bodies. Bonnie even enjoyed helping me rip them apart.”

Damon’s fists clenched at his side.

He laughed. “Relax, brother. Bonnie isn’t going to become a ripper. She only enjoyed ripping Thompson apart. I figured it was only fair since he did kill her.”

Suddenly, Elena burst into the room and let out a scream. “Oh my God.”

Damon groaned. Caroline was really doing a terrible job tonight.

The commotion managed to rouse Bonnie from her nap. She groaned and sat up. “Can’t a vamp get a little beauty sleep around here?”

Her shirt fell open to reveal her naked blood-covered body. Bonnie appeared completely unperturbed by her state of undress. 

Elena whispered, “What did you do, Bon?”

Damon couldn’t tell if Elena was talking about the killing or the pretty obvious fact that Bonnie and Stefan had sex.

“I was hungry,” she replied with a shrug. Bonnie casually buttoned the dress shirt she had stolen from Stefan.

Stefan chuckled evilly and pulled Bonnie into a dirty kiss.

Bonnie moaned against lips uncaring on their audience.

Elena let out a disgusted noise. “Damon, do something!”

However, Damon didn't hear a word that she said. His blood was boiling as he watched his brother practically maul Bonnie in front of them. If he wasn't sure before, he knew now that Stefan was trying to get under his skin. He was using Bonnie to do it. Damon would make him regret that.


	6. Battle Lines

Damon had listened to Scooby Doo Gang bicker amongst themselves for nearly an hour at the dead coach’s house. He and Alaric told the teens to go back to the boarding house when he had grown tired of listening to them. They weren’t going to solve any of their mounting problems tonight. Frankly, the arguing was only creating new problems, hostilities, and clear divisions between the friends. Furthermore, Bonnie and Stefan seemed to delight in adding fuel the fire whenever tensions started to die down. Damon quickly realized that together they were a couple of menaces. Any rational conversation would begin without Stefan and Bonnie’s presence.

He was grateful for the silence that descended when everyone departed. Damon ransacked the man’s kitchen looking for alcohol. He needed something to dull the throb in his head and perhaps his heart. Seeing the way Bonnie clung to Stefan was a hard thing to stomach. Unfortunately, he only found a gallon of vodka obviously purchased from some sort of surplus store. Damon plopped down in a chair that didn’t reek of sex and downed the bottle in a matter of minutes. The stuff was absolute swill to be sure but it did the job. Damon felt that pleasant tingle of warmth that reminded him of the days when he was still a human. 

Once the burning urge to rip out his brother’s heart passed, Damon got down to business. He needed to clean Coach Thompson’s house from top to bottom. He had to erase every trace of Stefan and Bonnie ever being inside the house. Damon also had the not so simple task of getting rid of three bodies as a winter storm deposited nearly three feet of snow on the ground. Worse yet, the soil beneath the snow was all but frozen because of the frigid temperatures. However, leaving behind any evidence would just attract attention from all the wrong places. Damon decided to make it seem as if the man skipped town after a drunken hit and run.

The raven-haired vampire didn’t make it back to the Salvatore boarding house until well after 4 AM. However, he felt secure in the clean up job he had done. It wasn’t the first time he had cleaned up or staged a crime scene. The bodies had been buried deep in the woods where no one would think to look. Damon had also ditched Thompson’s SUV near the scene of the hit and run that took Bonnie's life. His last order of business had been to call Liz Forbes. It was only right that Damon give her a heads up about the night’s events.  She was the sheriff and a high-ranking member of the Founder’s Council. Liz was concerned about Bonnie but agreed to make sure her deputies didn’t pursue the case any more than strictly necessary. 

Damon hoped that everyone had gone to bed for the night as he walked into the front door of his house. He really wasn’t interested in hearing anymore teenage girls bickering. The only thing that grated on his nerves more was Jeremy’s pathetic whining. The boy behaved as if he had some claim on Bonnie after he had spent only God knows how long cheating on her with his dead girlfriend. As much as he wanted to snap the kid’s neck sometimes, he would have to play his guardian angel for now. Human Bonnie might have been content to give Jeremy the cold shoulder for breaking her heart. However, Vampire Bonnie had already shown that her fangs were sharp and she wasn’t afraid to use them. 

Fortunately, the house was completely silent as he closed the door behind him. This was perhaps the first thing that had gone his way since finding Bonnie dying in the middle of the street hours ago. Damon decided to stop by the living room to get a glass of bourbon. He needed something to wash away the foul taste of the cheap vodka he drank. Then he wanted a hot shower and the comfort of his own bed for a few hours. He would deal with this clusterfuck later in the day when he wasn’t so close to the edge. Damon stopped short when he saw Stefan sitting in the living room. He shook his head in bitter exhaustion. He should have known that it wouldn’t be that simple. Nothing had been simple since Klaus ordered Stefan to remain in Mystic Falls.

Stefan looked up with a smirk. He looked incredibly comfortable wearing nothing but a pair of thin cotton pajama bottoms. He feigned concern and said,  “I am glad that you are finally here, brother. I was beginning to worry about you.”

Damon rolled his eyes and walked over to the drink cart. He filled the largest glass he could find and then had a seat across from Stefan. Damon took a healthy gulp before addressing his brother, “I cleaned up your mess…if you’re interested. You are welcome by the way.”

“Well, it seems only fair considering how many times I’ve cleaned up your messes. In fact, you are the reason I don’t have my humanity right now. Klaus compelled me to turn it off while I was paying off the debt that I incurred for you. You’re welcome, brother,” he replied smoothly. He picked up his glass of blood and tilted it in a mocking toast.

The older vampire leveled a serious look at his younger brother. He ground out, “I wouldn’t have taken Klaus’ blood if I had known this was the price, Stefan.”

He smirked and shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t be so melodramatic, brother. Klaus wanted a minion and a companion. He is pathetically lonely. He would have found a way to force me into servitude some other way. He wanted us to be friends again...still does if tonight is any indication. Anyway, a few months of killing innocent werewolves hardly compares to saving my beloved brother’s life.”

Damon decided that he preferred brooding Stefan to this arrogant bastard sitting in front of him. He decided to shift gears and asked, “Why are you doing…whatever you are doing with Bonnie if not to get back at me? We both know that Elena is the girl you love.”

Stefan laughed darkly. “Well, a very reliable source says that you’ve been trying to replace me in Elena’s life. In fact, there was even mention of stolen kisses and secret sleepovers. Maybe it’s the way Elena’s heart beats faster whenever you are close to her. Or the guilty looks you both share when I walk into a room unannounced and find the two of you together. I figured that you would be happy that my attention has shifted elsewhere. You got the girl...you won. Congratulations, Damon.”

Damon considered lying to Stefan but figured that it was useless. He obviously knew the truth. Elena wore her unfaithfulness like a scarlet letter on her chest. The girl’s guilt irritated him since they hadn’t done anything truly noteworthy. Private time with his hand was the closest Damon had gotten to sex since Rose died.

He replied,  “I won’t lie and say that I’m not attracted to Elena because I am. You’ve known how I felt about her for awhile. I care about her, Stefan. But she doesn’t love me because she is in love with you. She never gave up searching for you. Even after everything you have done, Elena would rush into your arms in a second if you just turned on your humanity.”

“Well, I won’t be turning on my humanity anytime soon. Besides, I think that we have long passed the age where it is acceptable to be fighting over the same girl. We’ve been there and done that before. Look how well it turned out last time. I’m not going to fight you for Elena. Besides, Bonnie is very interesting. You know, I found out tonight that she does still have her magic,” Stefan smirked. 

He thought back to how everything in the room had levitated when Bonnie had her second, third, and fourth orgasms. Stefan fully intended to see how many times he could make that happen. He could admit there was a certain amount of pride in causing that sort of reaction. He loved seeing someone so powerful completely lose control. Fortunately, Bonnie was eager and particularly greedy when it came to his lewd attentions. She craved him almost as much as she craved warm blood.

Damon wasn’t surprised that Bonnie still had her magic. She was a Bennett and had been uncommonly powerful from the moment her abilities started to manifest. Moreover, he had smelled her magic clinging to the air in Thompson’s house. The smell of her magic had been just as pungent as the scent of sex that had lingered in the air. Damon was trying his best to ignore the fact that his brother smelled of magic and sex again. Apparently, Stefan and Bonnie hadn’t been shy about continuing their escapades in the boarding house. He was sure to hear all about it from Elena and Jeremy in the morning. 

“It is obvious that you want to use Bonnie against Klaus but this isn’t the way to do it. You’re going to end up hurting her. Everyone knows that you are going to run back to Elena the moment you flip the humanity switch. She’s going to get her heart broken again. Bonnie doesn’t deserve to be hurt like that. Her head is already messed up. Caroline said that Bonnie wanted to stay with Sheila when she died briefly tonight.”

Stefan already knew about Bonnie’s encounter with her grandmother. The girl was bitter and heartbroken over the rejection. Stefan had soothed her the only way he knew how...with blood and sex. However, he also offered the newborn vampire something else. He promised that he would never leave her as everyone else had. Stefan saw how desperately she wanted to believe his promise even if her natural instinct was to distrust him. 

“I have no interest in reuniting with Elena, brother. I think it’s time that we stop plowing the same fields. I would never be able to trust her again. I would never trust you around her either. It is better this way. Besides, I enjoyed tonight. I forgot how nice it was to be with someone that doesn’t need me to be gentle. As for the notion of me using Bonnie, you couldn’t be farther off the mark. Sure I want her help in getting rid of Klaus but she’s also a lot of fun.”

“And when she stops being fun? You said yourself that Bonnie will adjust to being a vampire eventually. When she’s back to normal, she isn’t going to love your ripper tendencies.”

Stefan laughed and said, “Oh, I have a way around that. Bonnie might not like the idea of me killing innocent people. However, tonight she proved that part of her likes the idea of being an avenging angel. Do you know how many humans are deserving of death? Do you know that there are five convicted sexual predators living in Mystic Falls? I’m sure that number will skyrocket as we get closer to Richmond. I can feed my hunger and offer a little divine justice.”

Damon’s brows furrowed at that because Stefan had a point. Bonnie had always been a judgy little witch. The goodness in her was usually overwhelming, but vampirism often brought out the worst impulses. Stefan would surely nurture those impulses.

“You will grow bored of her and you know it, Stefan. I know that you don’t have your humanity but at least use your common sense. Do you really want a pissed off magic wielding witchpire after you?”

“Your concern for my future safety and happiness is touching, Damon. Are you really not going to be honest with me, brother?” Stefan asked with a smug smile.

“What are you talking about?” Damon asked in a dismissive tone.

Stefan sat forward on the couch and leveled a serious look at his older brother. “Since I came back to Mystic Falls there has been a mystery that I just couldn’t solve. Granted I wasn’t actually interested in solving it but still it lingered in the back of my mind. I couldn’t figure out why you smelled like Bonnie when you came home at night. Then I saw the way you pulled her away from me tonight. I saw the way you glared when we were flirting in the kitchen and then it all made sense. Bonnie might not know it but you like her. Then she was nice enough to let me see into her mind. She was worried that she would forget what Sheila told her when she was between worlds. You’ve been dropping in on Bonnie every night.”

Damon just stared at his younger brother in disbelief.  He couldn’t imagine a circumstance where a witch, let alone Bonnie would willingly allow a vampire into her mind. Yet he could tell that Stefan was being completely truthful. His hands twitched because he had the urge to snap the smug bastard’s neck. “I just wanted to make sure that Klaus didn’t kill her. We need the witch.”

Stefan chuckled quietly and said, “You always smell strongly of Bonnie when you return, Damon. You aren’t just dropping by for a visit. I would wager that you have been slipping into her bed for a mostly harmless cuddle. I doubt her grandmother would have told her to trust you if it was anything more untoward. In anycase, I am going to give you more of a courtesy than you have ever given me, brother. Admit that you have feelings for Bonnie and I will leave her alone. I’ll move on to Caroline. She’s been just itching to save me from myself.”

The older vampire glared daggers at his brother but didn’t reply. He was nervous about Stefan deciding to tell Bonnie his theory about Damon’s night time visits. He was right, Damon had never done anything perverted. Mostly he just watched the witch sleep. Leaving her alone in that empty house was always difficult for him. Damon usually came home to drink until he fell asleep. It was the only way to purge the discomfort he felt being away from her. 

Stefan finished off his drink with a grin and stood up. “Well, I guess that’s settled. I’m going to bed.” He walked by Damon and squeezed his shoulder. “Goodnight, brother.”

He chuckled when he heard Damon throw his glass into the fireplace. Stefan continued upstairs to his bedroom. He smiled seeing Bonnie curled up in his bed. She looked so peaceful and innocent but he had seen the demon inside her tonight.

Stefan closed the door and then walked over to the bed. He stripped off his pajama bottoms and slid in beside Bonnie. Stefan was pleased with how the night turned out. He was finally going to get everything he wanted from Mystic Falls. It actually made the vampire feel a little giddy. He was going to rid the world of Klaus and his annoying siblings. He was already punishing Damon for pursuing Elena. However, he was perhaps most pleased about the girl sleeping in his bed. Stefan had a golden opportunity to mold Bonnie into a perfect partner. She was young, impressionable, and alone. She was needy for affection and companionship. Furthermore, he was the only one Bonnie trusted after tonight.

Stefan settled down in his bed and pulled Bonnie so that she was flush against him. He shamelessly rutted against her firm backside for a few seconds. He had half a mind to take her again, but he felt guilty for tiring her out earlier. Bonnie was a vampire but she was still in transition. She wasn’t up to her full capabilities just yet. However, he planned to ravish her repeatedly in the coming days, there wasn’t much else to do whilst being trapped by the storm.

The annoying snowstorm would delay his plans by a few days. They wouldn’t be able to find Dr. Jo Laughlin until after the weather system moved through their area. It would take another day or two for Mystic Falls and the surrounding areas to dig out. The clean up always took longer in their area because they didn’t have the equipment on hand. Their part of Virginia didn’t have a reason to own industrial snow plows. They would be lucky if the city even thought to purchase road salt in bulk.

Fortunately, the downtime would give Bonnie enough time to strip Klaus’ compulsion from his mind. He wasn’t willing to risk their only opportunity to get rid of the original vampire. Tonight, Bonnie had mentioned in passing that a witch with enough power could remove an original vampire’s compulsion. The only downside was that it was a painful process and took a great deal of power. Stefan would have to be drained of his blood and vervained in order for Bonnie to work her magic. However, in a few days’ time Stefan would be in control of his own mind once again. He couldn’t think of anything better than that.

He smiled as he thought about Bonnie explaining that she had been studying the stolen Martin family’s grimoires to find a way to help him. She had even reached out to her cousin for advice on how to break compulsion by an original vampire. Stefan didn’t know what he had done to make Bonnie care about him. They weren’t exactly friends. More often than not, they were pushed together by some emergency or the need to save Elena from something. However, this had felt different tonight while they fed from Coach Thompson. Bonnie genuinely wanted to save Stefan from Klaus because she cared for him.

He rested a hand on Bonnie’s hip and nuzzled his nose into her wavy hair. Stefan inhaled deeply and smiled at her unique smell. Bonnie still smelled like a Bennett witch but she also smelled like him. A possessive thrill went through his body knowing that he had claimed her as his own tonight. It might have been blood-fueled ecstasy but Bonnie had willingly given herself to Stefan. At the time, he didn’t realize that he would be the first to have her in that way. However, the knowledge only increased his possessiveness.  He had given Damon the opportunity to come clean. Bonnie was his now and Stefan would eviscerate anyone that tried to change that.


	7. Growing Pains

When Bonnie awakened the next morning, she grasped her head in pain. The room was too bright for her verdant eyes. The noises in the house were too loud for her sensitive ears. Even the smells wafting into the bedroom overwhelmed the girl. All of her senses were being overloaded with information and it was giving her a splitting headache. Her body was still transitioning and it wasn’t an easy process. A witch transitioning into a vampire was an unnatural act. Therefore, her body and magic were both resisting and seeking the change at the same time. Worse yet, she was having phantom pains in the places where she was injured after the hit and run. She couldn’t feel the pain last night as she was dying in the street. However, she could feel the pain now. She let out a strained scream of pain.

Bonnie screaming beside him awakened Stefan. His eyes shot open and he knew immediately what was happening to the girl. He had witnessed it before in a transitioning witch. Bonnie’s body was reliving the trauma that caused her death. Over the years, Stefan had theorized that this was nature’s way of discouraging a witch from completing the transition. It was nature’s last gasp at trying to maintain the balance. Many witches chose death over the repeated agony. He moved down the bed until he was between Bonnie’s legs. Stefan needed to get her relaxed enough to let him into her head again. Otherwise her mind’s natural defense against vampires would kick in and force him out. A failed attempt at infiltrating a transitioning witch’s mind could leave them both drooling idiots permanently. 

“Ignore the pain and pay attention to me, Bonnie.”

She cried out in pain again. The pain was so intense that she was temporarily blind. “I can’t. It hurts! What’s happening to me?”

Stefan kneeled between Bonnie’s legs and pulled her into a sitting position so that she could see his face. “I know it hurts. Your body is experiencing the trauma from last night but it is only temporary. You need an anchor point so focus on me. You meditate, right?”

She nodded as tears streaked down her face. She whispered, “It hurts so badly. I don’t think I can do this. Kill me, Stefan. Kill me, please.”

He slid his hand underneath Bonnie’s t-shirt and stroked his fingers against her center. He smiled when Bonnie’s body reacted to him instantly. He said, “Yes, you can, Bonnie. You still have your magic. Do you know how rare it is for a witch to keep her magic after turning? You are strong. The impact from Thompson’s truck should have killed you instantly but you survived long enough for Damon to turn you. You can do this. Just focus on me and shut the pain out. You can do it.”

Bonnie’s body was at war with itself. She could feel the phantom pain of her bones breaking and her spine snapping from the impact of the crash. However, her brain was also registering what Stefan was doing to her. She moaned softly but wasn’t sure if it was in pleasure or pain. She assumed it was probably a little of both at this point. However, her legs splaying open even wider was a clear sign that she wanted Stefan to continue.

Caroline and Damon burst into the room having heard Bonnie screams from downstairs.

Just then, flames engulfed the wooden logs in the fireplace. The heat coming from the fireplace was intense.

The blonde vampire screeched and clapped a hand over her eyes. “Oh my God! I thought that Bonnie was in pain! What are you doing to her? I mean I can see what you are…”

Damon had the urge to snap his brother’s neck but realized it would be more trouble than it was worth. He also didn’t like how violently the fire was roaring in the fireplace. The flames looked as if they would escape the hearth at any moment. 

Bonnie screamed even louder as blood started to drip from her nose and ears. She could feel the phantom pain of the bones in her face shattering. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head until only the whites were visible.

Stefan stopped long enough to growl at Damon. His eyes were coal black and the veins rippled beneath his eyes. “Close the door!”

Damon pulled Caroline out of the room and slammed the door behind them.

The blonde vampire leaned against the wall with a shocked expression on her face. “What was that?”

“Do I really need to explain the birds and bees to you, Blondie?”

She huffed at Damon. “No, I don’t mean the sex part. I mean the blood dripping from the nose and the screaming part. That’s not any part of sex that I am familiar with.”

Damon said, “If I had to guess, it must be some sort of side effect from Bonnie’s transition. Stefan knows more about witch/vampire hybrids than I do.”

Caroline’s eyes went as wide as saucers when she hear Bonnie moan behind the door. “Oh! I don’t want hear that! I’m going downstairs.”

Damon frowned but decided to follow Caroline downstairs. He really didn’t want to hear his brother getting friendly with Bonnie either. He also didn't think he could handle hearing her screams of pain. 

Elena and Jeremy stood up as soon as the two vampires walked into the room. “Is Bonnie okay?” they asked simultaneously.

Damon heaved a sigh and made a beeline for his drink cart. He was going to need bourbon if he was going to deal with two overly concerned Gilberts.

Caroline said, “Uh…we’re not sure. She might be having some uh…side effects from turning. Or maybe transitioning is just different for witches than it is for regular humans. We didn’t really get a chance to ask.”

Jeremy scowled. “Why not? Did the two of you just leave Bonnie alone while she’s in pain?”

“She’s not alone,” the cheerleader quickly replied.

“What do you mean she’s not alone?” Jeremy asked.

Damon sat down on the couch and said, “She’s with Stefan.”

Elena scowled at that. Of course, she had seen Bonnie and Stefan together at Coach Thompson’s house last night. They had argued about it but Bonnie seemed apathetic at the time. However, she had hoped that it was a one time occurrence. Elena and Stefan were broken up but she still loved him. She couldn’t believe that her best friend was sleeping with him. “She stayed in his room last night?”

Damon rolled his eyes and said, “Yes.”

Jeremy asked, “Why aren’t we doing anything? Bonnie wouldn’t be sleeping with Stefan if she was in her right mind. He’s taking advantage of her.”

Elena frowned at her brother. “Stefan wouldn’t take advantage of Bonnie. He’s not like that, Jer.”

“What else would you call it? You told me that Stefan said that witches are unstable when they turn. Bonnie might not even have the mental capacity to be making her own decisions,” he argued.

“What about Stefan? Klaus made him turn off his humanity. Do you really think that he would be sleeping with Bonnie otherwise? Stefan and I are in love!”

Jeremy laughed bitterly. “Is that why Damon has been acting like a creeper around you? Did you think I couldn’t hear the two of you talking through the walls at night? How many times has he been in your bed, Elena?”

Caroline could see that the siblings were gearing up for an argument. “Bonnie might be acting a little strangely but she isn’t mentally incompetent, Jeremy. You and Stefan broke up, Elena. Bonnie isn’t betraying you anymore than I did when I dated Matt.”

The Gilbert siblings fell quiet but they both looked unhappy.

Damon could have kissed Caroline for making the two of them shut up. He was seriously considering spending the duration of the storm in the Salvatore crypt. It was quiet. He could take plenty of blood and bourbon with him. However, it’s best feature was the unending silence because this was a form of torture.

Ric walked into the room wearing an apron. “I finished cooking breakfast. You all should get in there before Tyler and Matt eat it all.”

Jeremy glared at his older sister before walking out of the room.

Ric nodded at Elena. “You, too.”

Elena huffed but dutifully followed her younger brother to the kitchen.

Caroline sat down on the couch with Damon. “I’ve already had my breakfast.”

“Does anyone want to tell me what that was about?”

Damon refilled his glass with more bourbon. “Jeremy and Elena were fighting over Stefan and Bonnie.”

“Well, that can’t be good,” he replied.

The raven-haired vampire glared at him.

Caroline looked at her phone. “I found the doctor that Miss Sheila told us about last night. Dr. Josette Laughlin is the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Whitmore Hospital.”

Damon looked over Caroline’s shoulder to see the website that she pulled up.

Caroline said, “Too bad we can’t get out to McKinley to see her until after the storm passes. She might be able to help us with Bonnie. I mean she has to be some kind of witch, right?”

Ric wore a thoughtful expression. He said, “We can’t get to McKinley but that doesn’t mean that we can’t speak with her. Most hospitals require essential personnel to stay at the hospital during extreme weather events like hurricanes and blizzards. There is a very good chance that Dr. Laughlin is on duty right now.”

The girl perked up and said, “That’s a great idea! I’ll pull up the hospital directory and see if she has a personal extension listed.”

Damon was glad that at least Ric and Caroline were making themselves useful. Thus far, everyone else had just gotten on his nerves. He winced when heard another blood curdling scream from upstairs.

Even Ric looked disconcerted but remained seated since Damon didn't look worried.

Caroline pulled up the directory for the hospital’s department heads. “I found her number! Who should call her?”

Ric looked at Damon and quickly decided that the vampire wasn’t the right candidate. They were going to be asking this woman for a favor. His friend was in no condition to be remotely cordial. He said, “I’ll do it. First, we should probably talk about what I will be saying to her on the off chance that she answers the phone.”

“We should ask her how to help Bonnie? I mean this doctor has to be a witch if she can help us with Klaus, right? Then she might know what we can do to help Bonnie through her transition. I’m not really sure how much we can trust Stefan and his methods…”

Damon nodded in agreement. He really wasn’t comfortable with whatever was happening with his brother and the witch. “Sheila made it seem as if Bonnie was integral to exiling Klaus. We’re going to need her focused and not an insane ripper when the time comes.”

Ric said, “Well, that’s as good a place as any to get started. I’ll ask her if she knows anything about transitioning witches. I hope that that will get her to take me seriously. What’s the phone number, Caroline?”

She tossed her phone to the history teacher. “The number is right there. All you have to do is press call.”

He caught the phone and called the number on the screen. He felt a little ridiculous calling a person he didn’t know and asking her about witches and vampires. He was so used to only communicating with people in their little circle. He waited patiently as the line rang.

_ “Hello?” _

Ric was surprised that someone actually answered. He had been prepared to leave the woman a message. “Uh, hello. May I speak to Dr. Laughlin?”

_ “This is Dr. Laughlin. How may I help you?” _

“I was hoping that you would be available to consult on an unusual case. A young woman was run down by a car last night.”

_ Jo turned on her computer and opened the patient database. She asked, “Is this young woman a patient here at Whitmore?” _

“No, she isn’t. She died from her injuries last night. However, a vampire gave her his blood before she expired. Now she’s transitioning into a vampire.”

_ The line went silent for a few moments. She snapped, “I don’t have time for pranks, sir. The governor has declared at state of emergency and we are swamped with patients.” _

Ric noted her hesitation. “This isn’t a prank and your help is very much needed. We don’t know what do for this young woman. Her grandmother told us to contact you. Did you know Sheila Bennett when she was alive?”

_ “Is this about Bonnie?” she asked in a small voice. _

He released a breath in relief. “Yes. Sheila’s granddaughter was killed in a hit and run accident last night. A vampire that she is friends with tried to save her life but she was already too far gone at that point. She is transitioning now and…she’s not well.”

_ Jo paused for a beat and she asked, “Does Bonnie still have her magic?” _

“Uh, I don’t know,” he replied honestly. He hadn’t thought to ask Damon about that.

Damon lifted an eyebrow in question.

Ric said, “She wants to know if Bonnie still has her magic.”

Damon deadpanned, “I’d say that she does unless Stefan’s fireplace came to life by itself.”

“She’s in pain. She was bleeding from her nose,” Caroline added anxiously.

“Yes, she does have her magic but she seems to be in a lot of pain. Is there any way that we can help her?”

_ Jo asked, “Has she already had human blood?” _

Ric winced when he thought about the scene last night at his former colleague’s house. “Yes, she has.”

_ “Unfortunately, the pain she is feeling will continue for at least 24 hours from the time she began to transition. It may last even longer than that since she still has access to her magic. The pain will only get worse as her transition nears completion. Her body will repeatedly relive the injuries that caused her death until the transition is complete. It will feel like torture. The best solution that I can offer is to help Bonnie submerge herself in a meditative trance. Her body will continue to relive the physical trauma but her brain will be detached from it. I can send you a list of supplies that you will need to keep Bonnie in the trance until her transition is complete.” _

Ric said, “Thank you for your help, Dr. Laughlin. We didn’t know what to do for her.”

“Call me Jo, please. And you are welcome. Sheila Bennett was a good friend to me when I first started working at Whitmore. I am glad to be able to help her granddaughter in some small way. I am going to give you my personal phone number. You can text me so that I can send that list of supplies to you,” she said. Then Jo rattled off her phone number.

Ric quickly entered the number into Caroline’s phone. Then he sent Jo a short text. “My name is Ric by the way.”


	8. Are You Cain or Abel?

Apparently, it was no easy feat to put a transitioning witch into a meditative trance. It was infinitely more difficult when that witch was as powerful as little Bonnie Bennett. Her magic would become uncontrollable the more she suffered and it would put them all in danger. Jo had warned Alaric that they might need to dose the girl with the potion several times over the next 24 to 48 hours. They also needed to find a way to keep her fed while she was in what amounted to a coma. Because Bonnie was still in the throes of transitioning, she could start to desiccate after eight hours without blood. The doctor’s instructions had been dizzying but detailed. She had also sent the instructions via email so that Alaric could keep them close at hand. 

The bad news was that the boarding house had only two of the eight necessary ingredients. Fortunately, Damon was eager for an excuse to leave the house in the middle of a blizzard. Putting distance between himself and his younger brother seemed prudent right now. Whenever the vampire’s thoughts strayed to Stefan, he had an overwhelming urge to snap his neck. During a brief nap this morning, Damon had even dreamed about ripping out the smug bastard’s heart. He wouldn't actually kill his brother, but fantasizing about it was disturbing. Damon could think of few instances where he had ever truly wanted to kill Stefan. He had tortured him in the past as revenge or because he was bored but this was different.

Damon knew that this situation was largely his fault. He could have told Bonnie he had feelings for her weeks ago. However, it had taken him awhile to understand those feelings. Frankly, he still didn’t have a firm handle on how he felt about her. Damon felt the need to protect her but it was more than that. He had noticed a possessive streak that made him uncomfortable. His sudden desire to possess Bonnie had forced him into her bed almost every night. Damon needed Bonnie to smell like him to warn away other supernatural suitors. He was scared by the depth of his feelings for the witch. Therefore, Damon did what he did best--run. 

He ran away from Bonnie while she was awake and focused on Elena. It was easy to do considering their history. There was also the little matter of having been chasing the same face over 150 years. Unfortunately, no matter how close he grew to Elena, it didn’t stop his desire for Bonnie. In fact, Damon only ended up feeling as if he was doing something very wrong. It was the main reason that he hadn’t pushed Elena to do more than cuddle and occasionally kiss. Damon had been seducing doe-eyed girls since the Civil War, he could have made the Gilbert girl putty in his hand with ease. 

In hindsight, Damon knew that he should have taken Stefan’s offer. Even if he wasn’t ready to confront his feelings for Bonnie, at least he wouldn’t have to listen to them having sex. He realized that Stefan was only trying to provoke a reaction out of him. He would have noticed a pronounced exhibitionist streak in his brother before now. He couldn’t say why Bonnie was indulging Stefan’s antics but he hoped things would go back to normal once the transition was complete. Damon was ready to have ‘old’ Bonnie back--his judgy little witch. Then they could all put this uncomfortable chapter behind them. 

Damon’s car was useless on the unpassable streets. He had to collect the potion ingredients on foot but enhanced speed made it a simple process. He returned nearly two hours after having left home. Damon stunk of bourbon because he had broken into the Grille to drown his sorrows for awhile. Besides, he wasn’t exactly eager to rejoin the Scooby Doo Gang. Damon had the urge to kill everyone just to get some peace and quiet in his home. He would never invite them to stay at the boarding house again. 

He walked into the kitchen covered in snowflakes. Even his hair was wet as the frozen precipitation began to melt in the warm house. Damon set several shopping bags on the counter and nodded at Ric. “Do you think that you can follow the doctor’s instructions?”

Alaric could smell the bourbon from across the island but didn’t mention it. He could tell that Damon was nearing the end of his rope. “Yes, I believe that I have it under control. Jo said that I could call her if I had any questions but the instructions were straightforward. I even managed to find a mortar and pestle in one of your cabinets. I’m not sure I want to know why you and Stefan even have one.”

He wrinkled his nose at the antique. He said, “Make sure that you clean it properly. I’m almost positive my nephew was the last person to use that. He probably used it to grind up vervain.”

Ric glanced at the large stone vessel and said, “I’d better give it another washing just to be safe. I don’t want to know how traces of vervain could throw off the potion’s chemistry. Jo was adamant that the recipe had to be followed exactly.”

Damon nodded. He was glad to have Alaric there as another sane adult. He would have already gone crazy without his best friend’s support. The teacher was certainly handy when it came to corralling the Gilbert siblings. The teens had been bickering with each other all morning--fighting over two vampires that hadn't given them a second thought. Damon took off his jacket and asked, “Has Stefan or Bonnie come downstairs?”

“Stefan came down briefly to get more blood--a lot of it. I had to restock the refrigerator after he left. Anyway, he sped in and out of here so fast that I barely saw him. It has been pretty quiet for the last hour. I hope that is a good sign,” Ric said with a small shrug of his shoulders. Despite, being a vampire hunter, he felt distinctly out of his element.

The raven-haired vampire rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen. He did not share Ric’s optimism. Stefan and Bonnie being quiet could only mean some sort of madness  was taking place. He also considered that they might have escaped--again. Damon went upstairs and knocked on his brother’s door before walking into the room. His eyes locked onto Bonnie’s semi-nude form immediately. However, her current state of undress was the last thing on Damon’s mind. 

The young witch was levitating at least three feet off Stefan’s bed. Her eyes were closed and it looked as if she was sleeping. Bonnie was wearing one of Stefan’s t-shirts and nothing else.  However, the shirt didn’t cover her properly since she was floating in mid-air. Damon noted symbols drawn around the bed with chalk. There was also an alarming number of candles surrounding the bed. The candlelight seemed to flicker in unison with the rhythm of a heartbeat that Bonnie no longer had. 

Stefan was walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He frowned at Damon and said,  “I would have thought that you would have learned your lesson on barging in without permission, brother. Or maybe you’re just angling to get another peek at Bonnie. I can't say that I blame you there...she is a sight to behold.”

Damon didn’t rise to the tantalizing bait his brother tossed him. It was better for him to focus on the matter at hand. He said, “We found the witch that Sheila told Bonnie about between worlds. Ric talked to her over phone and she told us how to help Bonnie through her transition. I went out for the ingredients for some potion that should keep her unconcious.”

The younger vampire lifted an eyebrow at his brother and then looked over at Bonnie. Surely Damon could see that his witch had no need of any potion. He said, “I appreciate the effort, but as you can see Bonnie is fine now. I just needed to get her relaxed enough to slip into a meditative trance. The trance works better and has fewer after effects if it is done naturally.”

Damon was furious but really had no one to blame. He hadn’t spoken to Stefan before deciding to run all over Mystic Falls for these now useless ingredients.  He asked, “How did you do that? I had to go out for herbs and a bunch of other bullshit.”

He smirked like the cat who ate the cream. Stefan said, “There’s more than one way to send a witch into a meditative trance. Bonnie’s magic is powerful enough to do it without the herbs. She only needed to be relaxed enough to let me into her mind. After that it was a piece of cake. I left Bonnie dreaming about her grams. She’ll be in that trance until I bring her out of it.”

Damon’s jaw literally dropped as he processed his brother’s humblebrag. He asked, “Bonnie let you into her mind?”

Stefan grinned. “She was in a great deal of pain. I’m not sure there is much that she would have denied me in that moment. Besides, Bonnie trusts me. She’s safe now, Damon. There’s no need for you to play the hero. Run along. I’m sure Elena needs to be comforted right now. I’ve been ignoring her all morning. You know how distressing Elena finds it for anyone else to be the center of attention.”

Damon decided to try reasoning with his brother again. “You need to think about what you are doing here, Stefan. I’m all for having a good time but you are going to get released from Klaus’ control eventually. If you burn your bridges, you won’t have anyone to come back to. You helped Bonnie when she was in pain and no one else knew what to do. Let this be the end of it.”

“Are you saying that you will abandon me, brother? I’m wounded,” Stefan exclaimed with a dramatic hand placed over his heart. 

Damon rolled his eyes. “I was talking about Elena. She’s not going to forgive you for sleeping with Bonnie…repeatedly.”

“Well, I guess it’s good that I don’t care about what Elena wants. Besides, I’ll be in control of myself sooner than you know,” he replied vaguely. He didn’t feel the need to tell Damon about Bonnie’s plan.

Damon decided to take it from another angle. “What about Bonnie?”

“What about her?” Stefan looked towards the bed. “She looks fine to me.”

“You’ve made your point! You’re pissed that Elena and I got closer while you were with Klaus. Well, it’s over now. She wants to be with you. What you are doing is ruining Elena and Bonnie’s friendship.”

He scoffed and said, “Elena is dead weight that Bonnie doesn’t need to keep lugging around. That is one bridge that I will happily help her burn. Besides, Bonnie and I are getting to know each other…very well. Did you know that she is a virgin?” He smirked and said, “Well, she used to be a virgin.”

Damon saw red for a moment. Stefan was still talking but the words were mumbled as if he was underwater. Then as if pulled by some unseen force, he sped across the room and snapped Stefan’s neck. He scowled as he watched his brother’s lifeless body crumple to the ground beside the bed. Brooding Stefan was always annoying. However, asshole humanity-less Stefan was even worse.

He raced outside after leaving the unconscious couple alone. Damon needed some space from the irritants in his house. He could feel that he was this close to snapping and killing everyone. He sat on the stone retaining wall and let the cold wind whip around his body. The temperature had dropped low enough that Damon could actually feel the cold pricking his skin. It was a brief reminder that he was still alive despite his unbeating heart.


	9. The Pull of the Crescent-Shaped Moon

Damon collected a couple bottles of bourbon and dragged a chaise lounge outside.  The cold weather had very little effect on the vampire and he appreciated the solitude. Damon couldn’t listen to another minute of bickering without murdering everyone in the boarding house. At the very least, he was tempted to kick them all out of his house during the worst snowstorm Virginia had seen in more than 40 years. Instead of either extreme, Damon collapsed on the chaise lounge and proceeded to get blind drunk. The pleasant buzzed feeling wouldn’t last long but he would enjoy it. Meanwhile, he trusted Alaric to keep their little three-ring circus from burning down the place. 

He didn’t think that Alaric would have much trouble keeping the peace in his absence. The biggest troublemakers were sidelined for the time being. Stefan seemed resolute in his decision to stay by Bonnie’s side during the trance. His younger brother was concerned that she would start to desiccate quicker than Jo anticipated. The more power a witch possessed, the more blood she would need to complete the transition. Damon had little choice but to defer to Stefan’s seeming expertise on the situation. He didn’t trust his brother in this moment, but he felt confident that Stefan wouldn’t allow anything to harm her.

Damon stayed outside until after the sun started to set. He was tempted to remain there for the rest of the evening. He could slip inside for blood once everyone was in bed for the night. However, his solitude was disturbed by the rumbling of a large truck. He heard the truck approaching for blocks before it finally pulled onto his property. Damon lifted an eyebrow as he realized that it was a massive snow plow. He couldn’t imagine who it could be or how this day could get any stranger. Then again this was Mystic Falls and the place was practically a magnet for chaos. Damon studied the driver’s face and didn’t recognize him. However, he wouldn’t discount Klaus compelling some poor bastard to kill them in the middle of a blizzard. He had to know that his first swipe at Bonnie had failed miserably.

Lucy Bennett opened the passenger door and hopped out of the truck gracefully. Her chocolate brown hair fluttered violently in the brutal winds but her cat-like eyes were sharp as she took in Damon. She studied him for a long moment before breaking eye contact and looking into the truck once more. She grabbed a duffel bag and her purse from the backseat. “Thanks for the ride, Billy.”

The burly trucker grinned and his dark eyes seemed to twinkle as he looked at her. It was obvious that the man was smitten with the witch. He said,  “You know that I would do anything for you, sweetness. You just give me a call after your business here is finished and I’ll come pick you up.”

She winked at him and closed the truck’s door. “I have your number. I’ll call you. Be careful on the roads.”

He nodded at Lucy and then drove away from the boarding house.

The caramel skinned woman strutted toward Damon confidently.

Damon asked, “Who are you?”

Lucy said, “Well, I’m Lucy Bennett but you might as well call me the cavalry. I heard you have an emergency on your hands. Where’s my cousin?”

“Your cousin?” Damon asked skeptically. He couldn’t help admiring Lucy’s side profile in those leather pants. Damon wondered how she managed to pour herself into them.

She rolled her eyes at Damon’s less than subtle attempt at ogling her. She snapped, “I am in no mood to play games, vampire. Where is Bonnie? She’s in trouble and I am here to help her. You really don’t want to get in the way of that.”

“I have no proof that you are who you say that you are. You’re not coming into the house and Bonnie is indisposed. Come back later,” he growled irritably.

Lucy took a step forward. “Listen up, I was having a great time with Billy until last night when I slipped into an unexpected trance. I had to play it off as an alcohol-induced blackout. He thinks I’m a lightweight now. Anyway, imagine my surprise when it’s my very dead…very demanding grandmother. She told me that Bonnie had been turned and that she needed my help. I dropped everything and convinced Billy to drive me two hours to get here. You are going to let me in or I am going to burn this place down with you in it.”

Damon growled at the threat but he was almost certain that he could trust the woman standing in front of him. Her magic pulsed and grew more aromatic as she became angry. Lucy certainly smelled like every Bennett witch he had ever encountered. He could at the very least confirm that she was a witch. Therefore, Klaus couldn’t have compelled her to kill Bonnie. Damon begrudgingly said, “She’s in a trance… for now.”

Lucy relaxed somewhat upon hearing that Bonnie was in a trance. During the ride to Mystic Falls, she had worried about the excruciating pain the girl must be experiencing. Lucy wouldn’t wish that sort of pain on her worst enemy. “That’s good news, it means that she can’t feel the pain of transitioning right now. There’s less chance of Bonnie deciding to take her own life. Shall we go inside?”

Damon eyed her for a moment but then opened the front door for her.

Stefan was walking down the stairs as they entered. He was prepared to goad Damon again but stopped short because of their guest. Stefan eyed her warily. He asked, “Are you going to introduce your friend, Damon?”

The elder Salvatore brother bit back the acidic retort on the tip of his tongue. “This is Bonnie’s cousin…Lucy.”

“I’m here to help. Where is my cousin?” she asked.

Stefan lifted an eyebrow at her imperious tone of voice. “She’s upstairs in my bedroom. However, she doesn’t need your help.”

“Your bedroom?” Lucy asked. She looked at Damon and said, “I thought you were the soul mate?”

“What?” both brothers asked in unison.

Lucy rolled her eyes and said, “I was told that you spoke with Sheila. She didn’t tell you about being Bonnie’s soul mate?”

Stefan eyed his brother carefully. His voice was calm but he hard the urge to rip out Damon’s heart on the spot. “What is she talking about, Damon?”

“I don’t know! The old witch didn’t say anything about soul mates. She just did the locator spell so that I could find you and her blood-thirsty little grandwitch before you went on a killing spree.”

Lucy huffed. “Of course they would leave the most difficult part for me. The elders just love punishing me for my romp on the wild side.”

Damon idly wondered what Lucy considered the ‘wild side’. However, he knew that it didn’t take much effort to draw the ire of the witches. They were not a particularly forgiving lot, not even towards their own bloodline. 

Ric walked into the hallway. “What’s going on?”

Damon groaned because he really didn’t want the rest of the Scooby Doo Gang turning up to offer their paltry two cents on the issue. He wanted to understand what the hell was happening first. Damon was so far out of his comfort zone, he might as well be on another continent.

Lucy was rattled by the turn of events but hid it well. She could see that Stefan was unhinged but she couldn’t risk hurting him. He would be instrumental to keeping Bonnie sane, if he was her soul mate. Lucy said, “I want to see Bonnie first.”

Stefan said, “I’ll take you upstairs.”

The witch and Damon followed him upstairs to the bedroom.

Lucy made a beeline for the bed once she was in the room. Her hands hovered over Bonnie’s body as she tried to get a read on the girl’s magic. Lucy quickly pulled her hands away. She frowned and looked at the vampires. “What did you do?”

Damon glared and grabbed Stefan’s collar. “If you’ve hurt her…”

Stefan slapped Damon’s hands away as if he were little more than an insignificant gnat. “I haven’t hurt Bonnie. I wouldn’t do that to her. She was in pain this morning, so I helped her achieve a meditative trance. She let me into her mind and I built the perfect scenario to keep her calm.”

The witch looked between the two brothers but then turned her attention back to Bonnie. “Her magic is spiking...it’s almost like a fever. Bonnie’s power will turn this house into a pile of ash if we don’t help her. The meditative trance is good, but she is not an ordinary witch. You couldn’t have anticipated this side effect.”

The younger vampire swallowed thickly and moved to stand beside Lucy. “What can we do? How can we help Bonnie?”

Damon was startled by his brother’s reaction. It was the closest to sincere that Stefan had been since flipping his humanity switch. It was  also a reminder that his little brother was still in there--somewhere.

“The only way to help Bonnie is for her to expend the energy that is building up inside of her. We’re going to have to wake her up, but that can wait for a couple hours. I would like to sort out the soul mate issue before she wakes up. I want to have answers for my cousin, not more confusion. She will be unpredictable enough without becoming more agitated.”

Stefan asked, “Is it safe to wait a few hours?” 

Lucy nodded and said, “Her magic hasn’t reached a critical level yet. We still have time. Let’s move this conversation somewhere else. Even in the meditative trance, Bonnie might be able to hear us.” 

Damon nodded. “Let’s go downstairs.” 

The trio left the bedroom and reconvened in the living room. Unfortunately, Alaric and the rest of the Scooby Doo Gang were waiting on them. Damon said, “This is Bonnie’s cousin, Lucy Bennett. She’s here to help us with Bonnie.”

Caroline breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” 

Lucy nodded in the teen’s direction. 

Alaric cleared his throat. “I believe that you mentioned something about...a soul mate.”

The witch nodded and took a seat in an armchair. She said, “Centuries ago, a Bennett witch named Qetsiyah was in love with a warlock named Silas. They were both powerful but Qetsiyah was descended from one of the four original witches. Silas wanted to be immortal and he convinced Qetsiyah to create an immortality potion for the two of them. They planned to take the potion together after they were married. Unfortunately, Silas had been playing Qetsiyah the entire time. He was actually in love with her friend and handmaiden, Amara. Qetsiyah flew into a rage and killed her friend. However, Silas had already taken the immortality potion. Qetsiyah decided to create the Other Side. It is like a purgatory for the supernatural. Then she imprisoned Silas in a tomb with a cure for immortality. She hoped that one day he would take it and join her on the Other Side.”

“Talk about being bitter,” Damon muttered from behind his glass of bourbon.

Lucy scoffed. “Her fury was righteous but she took it too far. Qetsiyah’s actions inadvertently cursed our family and created the doppelgangers.”

Elena asked, “Your ancestor is the reason that I exist?”

She shook her head. “Not just you, Elena. You are Amara’s doppelganger and Stefan is Silas’ doppelganger. It is nature’s way of punishing Qetsiyah. From the Other Side, she has watched her enemies fall in love for thousands of years.”

Stefan glanced at Elena for a moment. He had a sickening feeling as if his life had never been his own. The spirits had pushed him into Katherine and Elena’s paths. Both times he only had heartache and loss to show for the relationships. “You mentioned that your family was cursed, too?”

Lucy nodded and looked down at her hands. “The spirits decided that Qetsiyah’s actions should serve as a warning to all witches but especially those of the Bennett line. We are not above the rules of nature. Therefore, each century the most powerful witch born to our line is cursed. The witch is cursed with a soul mate that is in love with Amara’s doppelganger.”

Realization washed over Damon as he listened to Lucy. “Bonnie is the one that is cursed this time around. And you think that I am her soulmate?”

Jeremy looked as if he wanted to murder Damon. “You can’t be serious! Soulmates are storylines in trashy novels. It’s not a real thing. Bonnie certainly wouldn’t be bound to a vampire. She hates them and so do your ancestors.”

In a cutting tone Lucy asked, “Just as vampires and werewolves are the things of fantasy?”

He clenched his fists in anger but fell silent. As much as he didn’t want to consider this idea, he doubted this woman would travel in a blizzard to lie.

Lucy said, “I assumed that Damon was Bonnie’s soulmate because of his interest in her but perhaps our ancestors misread the situation. We never know who the soulmate will be until we see the mark.”

“What is she talking about, Damon? What interest do you have in Bonnie?” Elena asked.

Stefan smirked. “Yes, brother. What is dear Lucy talking about?”

Damon glared at his younger brother, but realized that lying was not an option.  “I’ve been looking out for Bonnie. I was trying to make sure that Klaus didn’t kill her. She’s the only way we’re going to be able to defeat him and I was right about that.”

Caroline scoffed at his partial explanation. She interjected, “Miss Sheila said that you’ve been breaking in Bonnie’s house at night.”

Elena’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “What?”

Even Matt looked startled by that revelation.

Tyler frowned at Damon as if seeing him in a new light. “Why?”

Damon ignored the teenagers various looks of condemnation and suspicion. He didn’t feel like discussing this any further and they didn’t have the power to make him. “What mark are you talking about?”

Lucy said, “It is usually a crescent shaped blemish that appears on the back, chest, or sometimes on the wrist.”

Damon’s mind raced. “I…”

Stefan chuckled heartily. “Damon and I both have the same mark. We thought that they were birthmarks.”

Lucy stood up quickly. “That’s not possible. There can only be one soulmate.”

The caramel haired vampire removed his t-shirt and then stood in front of everyone. Sure enough, there was a crescent shaped birthmark on his left shoulder blade. “I noticed that Bonnie has one just like this...I thought it was a coincidence.”

Damon unbuttoned his shirt and revealed the crescent shaped birthmark on his right pec.

Caroline asked, “Could Bonnie have two soul mates?”

Lucy shook her head. “No, there must be some other explanation for this. For over a thousand years there has been one soul mate for the cursed Bennett witch.” She frowned as if she was mulling something over in her head. “There is a chance that one of you was Emily Bennett’s soul mate. The two of you being turned into vampires may have changed something. Did either of you feel drawn to Emily?”

Stefan frowned and then said, “I…I thought that she was beautiful and interesting. I used to seek Emily out to talk but then Katherine started compelling me. Suddenly, I only thought of her as a servant. Katherine didn’t like sharing the spotlight with anyone.”

Damon looked down at this glass. He remembered trying and failing to save Emily from being killed. They had grown closer after Katherine was out of the picture. He said, “Maybe…”

Lucy said, “I am going to have to do some research. There has to be a way to figure out which of you is Bonnie’s soulmate.”


	10. Petulance, Thy Name Is Bonnie Bennett

Bonnie stayed in the meditative trance for nearly sixteen hours. She had to admit that it was the best rest she had gotten in a long time. Spending time with her grandmother, even a fictional version, was like a healing balm for her wounded soul. Unfortunately, Bonnie was confronted with utter nonsense from the moment she awakened. Her cousin, Lucy, had arrived sometime earlier telling tales of two thousand year old curses and soulmates. She had whipped everyone into a frenzy over the situation--including Damon and Stefan. Apparently, the brothers had a nasty fight that left Damon dead with a broken neck.  

Lucy was talking again but Bonnie was more interested in consuming the dozen or so blood bags Stefan had dumped into her lap. Sleeping for sixteen hours had left the girl feeling as though she was starving. They wouldn’t make the mistake of leaving Bonnie in a trance for so along again. Her body needed too much blood right now. At the very least, they would have to figure out some way to keep her sated while in the trance. Elena had ‘helpfully’ suggested a feeding tube as if they had that sort of equipment lying around the boarding house. 

Damon was standing near the door with an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes had been focused on Bonnie while Lucy explained their peculiar situation. 

Bonnie was still clad only in Stefan’s t-shirt. The large v-neck t-shirt swallowed her slender body but she didn’t mind it. Being wrapped in Stefan’s scent was delightful. His scent had been ever present even while she was in the trance. It helped keep her calm even when the pain tried to infiltrate the serenity Stefan had built for her. Her gaze shifted to the vampire that was leaning against his bookcase. He had been staring at her unceasingly since she awakened. It almost seemed as if he was anticipating something. Bonnie lifted an eyebrow at Stefan and then languidly licked her lips. 

He lifted an eyebrow at Bonnie and followed it up with a smirk. He hadn’t known what to expect from her. Stefan was glad to see that her wickedness was still firmly in place.

Lucy frowned as she looked between the two of them. “Are you listening to me?”

Bonnie didn’t even bother looking at her cousin. “Not really. I don’t care about this stupid curse or some hypothetical soul mate. Stefan promised me plenty of delicious blood and even better sex. That’s good enough for me.” 

Damon rolled his eyes at Bonnie and his brother. He didn’t know what reaction he had been expecting but this wasn’t it. He wondered how different it would be if she wasn’t in transition. He figured that in this state that she would want Stefan. He was the only one willing to indulge her. However, a part of him hoped that she would feel differently once she was back to normal.

Stefan chuckled deeply. He planned to keep his promise just as soon as the snow melted. He and Bonnie were going to go on a little road trip. Some might call it a killing spree but he wasn’t a big fan of labels. The point was to get Bonnie far away from everyone that would try to act as her conscience. Their friends would only make it harder for him to turn Bonnie into his perfect partner-in-crime. In hindsight, he could almost understand why Klaus had so badly wanted Stefan by his side. Killing people was fun but it was better if there was someone to share it with.

Lucy huffed, “Do not encourage her. This is serious, Bonnie. The curse isn’t something that you can ignore...it will have its due. I know the transition is wreaking havoc on your emotions but try to take this seriously. The curse comes with consequences.” 

She shrugged and asked, “What do I care about the curse or its ominous consequences? It sounds more like a Stefan and Damon problem than a Bonnie problem. Stefan and I will fool around until he starts looking wistfully at Elena again. Then I will dump him faster than he can blink and find someone else to entertain me--easy peasy, lemon squeezy. My options are endless and my time is unlimited.”

Stefan was across the room in a flash with his hand wrapped around Bonnie’s throat. The sudden fit of rage shocked Stefan but he didn’t care. “What was that? I don’t think I understood you.” 

Bonnie fell backwards onto the bed and pulled Stefan with her. She grinned evilly at him and said, “I am done chasing guys that are in love with inferior girls. What are you 150 years old? Maybe I can find someone twice as old...twice as powerful. Now that could be fun. What could a man with so much experience teach me?” 

Lucy was prepared to intervene on Bonnie’s behalf before she realized the girl had baited Stefan into roughing her up. She was learning more about her younger cousin’s sex life than she wanted to at the moment. In an exasperated voice, she said, “Bonnie…”

Damon looked mad enough to spit fire. His fists were clenched at his side to keep him from tackling Stefan to the ground. 

Stefan moved his mouth to Bonnie’s ear and growled, “Never. You’re mine.” 

She laughed airily and easily tossed Stefan off her using magic. Bonnie said, “I could be yours...I haven’t decided yet. We’ll see if you’re still interesting once we get Klaus’ pesky commands out of your pretty little head. We all know that you have a serious hardon for Elena when your humanity switch is in the ‘On’ position.”

Stefan slammed into the wall hard enough to make it tremble from the force. His eyes went black and the veins began to ripple violently. He prepared to leap across the room to get to Bonnie again but was knocked out of the air by Damon. 

Damon growled at the both of them and said, “Enough!”

“Oh, someone is testy. Those blue balls must be getting to you,” the girl taunted.

Lucy huffed, “I couldn’t have said it better myself, Damon. I didn’t travel to Mystic Falls in the middle of a blizzard to watch...whatever this is.” 

“Foreplay,” Bonnie supplied with a grin. 

Damon narrowed his eyes at Bonnie. 

She shrugged and looked completely unruffled. “It is called foreplay.”

Stefan got to his feet with a grin. He brushed off his clothes with exaggerated motions and agreed, “Yes, it is.” 

Lucy was tempted to put the girl back in the trance. She couldn’t work with Bonnie when she was this difficult. She knew that dealing with a witch in transition wouldn’t be easy but she hadn’t expected this. She said, “There is a way to figure out which Salvatore brother is your soulmate. We should do that. You may be unable to feel the pull now but you will once the transition is complete.”

Bonnie collapsed on the bed dramatically and said, “I just told you that I don’t care about this soulmate bullshit. I am sorry that our dead relatives made you come all the way out here. That sucks for you but it's not my fault. I didn’t call you for help. I didn’t even know how to get in touch with you.”

Lucy knew that Bonnie was being flippant but the words hit her like a guided missile. She had met her younger cousin only once at a masquerade ball. She had hightailed it out of Mystic Falls less than an hour later to avoid the hell she knew was coming. Making matters worse, she hadn’t once reached out to the girl she knew to be completely alone. She had heard rumors about Rudy’s business trips keeping him away from town often. Lucy wouldn’t even be there now if she didn’t know that their ancestors would keep hounding her. 

She said, “I’m sorry that I haven’t been in touch…”

The girl waved away her cousin’s apology. “You don’t owe me anything. Besides, I don’t have a good track record with family members. You should probably run while you are still alive. Grams died trying to help me.”

Lucy wanted to throw her hands up in defeat. However, she decided to take a different angle. Lucy was fluent in petulant teenage girl. She had been one well into her twenties much to the extreme regret of her poor mother. She said, “Just let me cast the spell that will tell us which brother is your soulmate. Imagine the chaos it will cause around here. Your little friend, Elena, will be beside herself. Oh, and that Jeremy boy is just looking for a reason to throw a punch at either vampire. Not to mention I am sure the brothers will be ready to tear each others’ throats out.”

Damon frowned at Lucy’s ploy but he could see the merits. His judgy little witch had left the building and only a chaos seeking demon remained. 

Bonnie tilted her head to the side as she considered Lucy’s proposal. All of that anger and chaos did sound like fun. If she was going to be stuck in the boarding house for another couple days, she deserved some entertainment. What could be better than watching everyone twist themselves into knots over something that meant nothing to her? She shrugged carelessly and said, “Fine.” 

Lucy was relieved that Bonnie agreed. The girl wasn’t in the right state of mind, but the transition would end soon enough. When it did, Bonnie would need to know the truth. The girl was wrong in believing that the curse would only affect the Salvatore brothers. There were tales of Bennett witches going mad because of trying to avoid their soulmate. 

She said, “Good. It will only take me about 15 minutes to put everything together. Fortunately, I came prepared for about a dozen scenarios since I didn’t know what I was walking into.”

Bonnie asked, “What do I have to do?”

“Nothing,” she promised. “I’ll brew the potion and the three of you will drink it. The potion will cause the soul marks on you and your soulmate to glow.”

“Twinkle twinkle little star,”she replied mockingly. 

Lucy lifted an eyebrow and said, “I’ll be back soon. Try to stay out of trouble in the meantime.” 

Bonnie feigned innocence. “Trouble? I have been in a trance for sixteen hours. What kind of trouble could I possibly cause?” 

The older woman held back a sigh and left the room. The sooner she knew the truth, the sooner they could return Bonnie to the trance. The girl was a disaster waiting to happen. Frankly, they were fortunate that Bonnie hadn’t thought to use her powers to cause mischief yet. 

Stefan wasn’t sure that he was on board with this idea. There were too many variable that he had no control over. Bonnie’s reaction was at the top of his list. What if she suddenly decided that she wanted Damon? It seemed unlikely in this state but as Lucy said, things might change once the transition was complete. 

He looked at Damon and asked, “Could I have a few moments alone with Bonnie, brother?” 

The elder brother looked uncertain but the wicked grin on Bonnie’s face was enough to force him out the room. He didn’t want to know what she’d do to make him feel uncomfortable. He said, “I need a drink anyway.” 

“Good idea, Boozy,” Bonnie said teasingly. 

Damon shook his head and dropped a small pouch on the floor. He discreetly kicked it under the bed and proceeded to leave the room. 

Stefan walked over to close and lock the bedroom door. Then he sat beside Bonnie on the bed. He cupped her cheek and whispered, “I think it’s high time that we get the hell out of here.” 

Bonnie wasn’t opposed to leaving. Damon was all broody and serious and Lucy was a complication she didn’t need. Her cousin was an experienced witch and could pose a problem going forward. Lucy didn’t seem enthused by Bonnie desire for fun. She chanced a glance out his window. “I’m going to assume the roads are blocked. How are we going to leave?” 

“We’ll leave on foot. I have a place not far from here where we can wait out the storm. Just you, me, and all the blood that you can drink. And if we get bored...we can go out to find something living to hunt,” he promised. 

Bonnie pulled Stefan into a bruising kiss and then let out a happy squeal. “I so picked the right brother! Let’s go.” 

Stefan chuckled deeply and said, “You need to put on some clothes first. I brought your suitcase in here.” 

She sped across the room in the blink of an eye and started looking through her clothes. She groaned, “I didn’t bring anything good to wear.”

Stefan reclined against the headboard and said, “We’ll put stealing a new wardrobe on our To-Do list.” 

Bonnie blew a kiss in Stefan’s direction before choosing a paisley print peasant dress. She rummaged through the suitcase and asked, “Panties or no panties?” 

“Definitely no panties…” he answered quickly.

She winked at him and then disappeared into the bathroom to change. 

Stefan stuffed Bonnie’s clothes back into the suitcase and opened his window. They would have to jump out the window to avoid running into anyone. Fortunately, he knew from experience that Bonnie was fearless. 

The witch returned a few minutes later and put on her bloodstained boots. She grinned at Stefan and said, “Let’s go.” 

He smirked and said, “Ladies first…”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Bonnie said. She walked over to the window and tried to climb out but was stopped by an invisible barrier. She growled and slammed her hand against it repeatedly. “No!”

“Fucking witches…” he muttered. “Not you, darling.” 

“I happen to agree at the moment,” Bonnie snapped. “Where’s the trust? I am a little offended.” 

Stefan chuckled and kissed her neck. “You’re a witch...you can undo this, right?” 

“Yes, but my guess is that they have someone acting as lookout downstairs. I don’t actually want to murder our friends,” Bonnie said with a pout. 

He rolled his eyes but was inclined to agree with Bonnie. Murdering their friends was more trouble than it was worth. Besides, they might still be useful against Klaus. “I guess we’re stuck here for now…”

Bonnie walked over to his bed and flopped down. “But I really wanted warm blood. I bet I could get Jeremy to let me feed from him. I’d have to play the wounded bird...” 

Stefan snorted. “You probably could trick him…”

“Matt is pretty tender-hearted, too. I could definitely convince him to make a donation to the ‘Feed Bonnie program.” 

“Elena was willing to open a vein, too,” he suggested. 

She rolled her eyes. “That’s before I started screwing you. She’s very unhappy with me right now. But I bet she’d let you have a taste.”

He chuckled darkly. “Oh, I’m sure that she would. If only to keep me from falling between your legs again.”

“Tyler’s a hybrid but the one yesterday didn’t taste too bad for me. Besides, beggars can’t exactly be choosers. I wonder what Klaus tastes like…” she mused. 

Stefan climbed onto the bed with Bonnie. “You’re thinking about hunting down Klaus to feed from him.”

“Why not? He’s food as much as anyone else is to me right now...probably more so since this is his fault. I bet you can taste his inferiority complex in his blood.” 

“I wouldn’t say that but it does have a certain tang to it. I figured it was his age. The older a vampire gets, the richer the blood tastes. Almost like an aged steak,” he replied. 

Bonnie lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve had his blood?”

“A few times,” he replied vaguely. 

She chuckled and asked, “Is it a sex thing?” 

Stefan laughed and pulled her on top of him. “I was bitten by werewolves a couple times during the summer. Klaus was gracious enough to save me from a very painful death.” 

“And Klaus was right there to feed you blood from his wrist. Definitely a sex thing. There’s nothing to be ashamed about. He does have pretty lips,” she teased him. 

He flipped them over and pinned Bonnie to the bed with a chuckle. “You are not funny. And you think he has pretty lips?”

She nodded and said, “Pretty pink lips and curly blond hair. It looks soft. Is his hair as soft as it looks?”

Stefan stared down into her mischievous eyes. “Softer…”

Bonnie tugged his shirt over his head. “This is officially foreplay, too.”

“Yes, it is,” he murmured as he started kissing her neck.

“What does he smell like?” Bonnie asked with a small moan. 

“He smells like blood, oil paint, and Clive Christian cologne,” he replied. 

“That actually sounds really good.” 

He looked at the mark he left on Bonnie’s neck and admitted, “It can be pleasant.”

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

“Bonnie, the potion is ready,” Lucy called through the door. 

The girl gave an annoyed huff and said, “We’re going to finish this as soon as we take this stupid potion.” 

Stefan rolled off her and said, “Yes, we are.” 

Bonnie climbed out the bed and opened the door. She scowled at Lucy and said, “Nice move putting an isolation spell on the boarding house so I can’t leave.” 

Lucy smirked as she carried in a tray with three mugs. She said, “Damon and I figured the two of you might try to pull a disappearing act.”

She walked over to the bed and sat down. “You can’t keep us here forever. I can undo this spell and you know it.” 

Lucy had used an old-fashioned spell bag that Bonnie would have to find and destroy. She doubted the girl even knew anything about them since her magical knowledge was limited. She said, “I have no intention of keeping you here forever, Bonnie. You are old enough to make your own decisions once the transition is complete.” 

Damon entered the room quietly. 

Lucy said, “Everyone drink up. I put it in my granny’s hot toddy recipe so that it would go down easier.” 

Everyone took a mug and started drinking. 

Stefan lifted an eyebrow and said, “There’s a lot of bourbon in this.” 

“It is bourbon and rum, but you don’t want to taste the actual potion. Trust me...” She looked at Damon and said, “You might want to ditch the shirt so we can see the mark.” 

Damon finished chugging the drink and then took off his shirt. 

Bonnie asked, “How long does it take to work?”

Lucy glanced at Damon’s chest as the crescent shaped mark began to glow a greenish color. “It looks like Damon is your soulmate.” 

Damon swallowed thickly and looked at Bonnie. 

Stefan’s eyes went dark. He wasn’t going to let his brother take Bonnie from him. 

The girl was about to reply but stopped short after looking at Stefan’s shoulder. “Well, it looks like you messed up the potion because his birthmark is glowing, too.” 

“What?” the older witch asked. She walked around to get a look at Stefan’s back. “Oh, that’s not good. That’s not...that’s not supposed to happen!”

Stefan frowned and pulled back the top of Bonnie’s dress to get a look at the mark below her breast. “Her mark is glowing, too.”

Bonnie huffed, “You must have done something wrong.” 

“I wouldn’t make a mistake on a potion that simple. It only has four ingredients. I need...I need to perform a seance. We need answers that I don’t have,” she muttered distractedly. 

Damon asked, “And you’re certain that it can’t be both of us?”

“Of course I am sure. There is one soulmate for the Bennett witch. It’s always the one that is in love with the doppelganger,” Lucy explained. 

Bonnie said, “Well, both of these idiots are in love with Elena. And they were both in love with Katherine before her. They have a type...”

Both brothers shot scathing glares at her. 

She shrugged her shoulders. “The truth hurts, deal with it.”


	11. A Grand Appetite

Bonnie looked at Stefan from underneath her dark eyelashes. She asked, “Can you teach me how to bite someone without it hurting?” 

Stefan glanced at a very nervous Matt Donovan. Bonnie had lured the blonde quarterback into his bedroom like a lamb to slaughter. He was almost tempted to let her drain the boy dry. However, that would surely land them both in the cellar for the duration of the blizzard and perhaps longer. 

He cupped Bonnie’s cheek and said, “Of course I can teach you, Bonnie. There are several ways to make feeding almost painless for a human. The best way is arousal but that isn’t really an option here.”

A her soft lips curled into a devilish grin. “Who said that wasn’t an option? Mattie is sweet. Besides, have you seen him without a shirt? Those abs are amazing...”

Stefan expression darkened as he wound his long fingers into Bonnie’s curly hair. He pulled hard enough to be painful and crushed his lips against hers. After the heated kiss, he said, “Be a good girl, Bonnie.”

“I thought you liked it when I was bad,” she replied with feigned innocence. 

“Klaus is the only person that I intend to share you with…and only because it will make it easier to get rid of him.”

Bonnie felt a shiver travel down her spine. She licked her lips and then tried to refocus. “If arousal is off the table, then give me something else. I don’t want to hurt Matt.”

Stefan noted the sincerity that shone in her eyes. He said, “The best method is to make the person relax before it happens. Pierce the skin quick but don’t bite down too hard. Also, you don’t have to suck to draw out the blood. Go for the artery in Matt’s neck, the blood will bubble forth naturally. Now go have your snack because it looks like he’s getting cold feet.” 

Bonnie nodded dutifully and crossed the room. 

Matt was pacing in front of the bookcase. He was beginning to feel as if he had willingly walked into the lion’s den. However, Bonnie had come to him with soft words and sad eyes. She was practically starving after having been in a trance for sixteen hours. He knew that to be true because of admissions from Lucy and Damon. Everyone had underestimated how Bonnie’s magic would compromise her transition. The more powerful the witch, the more blood he or she needed. Lucy theorized it was nature’s way of preventing powerful witches from completing the transition.

Bonnie stopped in front of her friend and said, “Thank you for agreeing to help me, Matt. I know...I know I haven’t really been myself since Damon turned me. I won’t pretend to be sorry for anything I have done but I want to assure you that I would never hurt you. You’re probably the only person in this whole house that hasn’t done anything to piss me off. You have always been a good friend to me, Matt.”

Stefan noted that he didn’t make the cut for Bonnie’s woefully short list. He wondered what he had done to get on her bad side. Stefan knew it could be any number of things. It appeared their quiet little witch held grudges even if she never said anything. 

Matt knew that Bonnie could be lying but he hoped that she was speaking truthfully. More than anything, he wanted to believe that his lifelong friend was still in there somewhere. “I should have been a better friend. I didn’t realize that you were still struggling with your grandmother’s death. Caroline told us what you said in Damon’s room.” 

She looked into the blue pools of his eyes for a moment and then shook her head. “You’re not to blame. I didn’t tell anyone because I thought that I could handle it alone. Besides, you are grieving, too. I know how much you still miss Vicki. Your grief sort of went without notice, too.”

He looked down at the floor while recalling the massive disaster his grief had almost caused. 

Bonne took his hand and said, “Hey. I was willing to stay on the Other Side with Grams. You have no reason to feel guilty about wanting more time with Vicki. I would have done the same thing in your position.”

“What does that say about us?” he asked with a sad smile. 

She shrugged. “We have absent parents that leave us to cope with the world’s problems alone.”

Stefan frowned because he hadn’t considered that Matt and Bonnie had absentee parents in common. Both of their parents were alive and well. They just didn’t seem particularly interested in the well-being of their children. 

Matt took a deep breath and said, “We should probably get this over with before someone starts looking for me. Damon and Alaric warned me not to let you feed from me but I trust you more than anyone else, Bonnie. I always have.” 

Bonnie nodded and led him over to an armchair. 

Matt sat down and looked up at Bonnie expectantly. 

Bonnie sat across his lap and said, “I promise I’ll make this as painless as possible.” 

“I trust you, Bon,” he swore. 

She kept Stefan’s instructions in mind when selecting a site to feed from. Bonnie’s eyes locked onto Matt’s throbbing artery. Her eyes went black as the night sky before she bit into his neck. 

Matt tensed but relaxed when the expected pain didn’t come. It was more of a light pinch than the stabbing feeling he had been expecting.

Bonnie sighed happily as the perfectly warmed blood flowed into her mouth. Cold blood from a bag could never compare to warm blood from a human donor. Blood from a living donor also didn’t have the unfortunate aftertaste left by the anticoagulant used in the medical field. As Bonnie swallowed hungrily, she could see how easy it was to accidentally drain someone. All of her instincts told her to drink from Matt until he didn’t have a drop of blood left in his body. However, she focused on the fact that Matt was her friend and that the world would be darker without him. 

Matt was ignoring years of evolution by allowing Bonnie to feed from him. His fight or flight response wanted him to stop the predator stealing his life’s blood. He tried to relax because a racing heart just meant more blood would leave his body faster. He relaxed more when Bonnie smoothed her hand over his hair. 

Bonnie had been counting in her head. When they reached the two minute mark, she slowly withdrew her fangs from his neck. Then Bonnie pricked a finger on her fang and smeared her blood over the puncture wounds on Matt’s neck. She watched as they quickly healed. She continued to sit on his lap for a moment as she tried to regain her senses. 

Matt was relieved that Bonnie had been able to stop on her own. He had actually expected her to take more blood. He asked, “Are you okay?” 

Bonnie hummed contentedly and nodded. She smiled up at Matt and said, “Thank you. I feel warm, full, and kind of sleepy now.”

He was surprised by her response and said, “Oh. Well, I am glad that I was able to help.”

Stefan approached the pair and gently took Bonnie into his arms. “If she’s sleepy, then it is probably best to put her back into the trance now.”

“Oh okay,” Matt said. He stood on shaky legs. 

He said, “You might want to increase your floods and have a cookie.”

Matt nodded and walked out the room. 

Stefan carried Bonnie over to his bed and laid her down. “You’re a lot more cuddly when you’re sated.”

Bonnie yawned as she flipped him off. She kicked off her boots and asked, “Will you put me back in the dream I was in the first time?”

He stroked Bonnie’s hair and asked, “Do you want to go back there?”

She nodded slowly. “It was nice and you were there, too. Nice job making my Grams’ actually like you. She definitely wouldn’t approve of what we’re doing.”

Stefan chuckled and moved onto the bed with Bonnie. He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Try to relax so that I can enter your mind again.”

Bonnie closed her eyes and focused on her breathing and Stefan’s large hand resting just under her breast. His presence was comforting even if she liked giving him a hard time. 

It took a few minutes of prodding Bonnie’s mind, but slowly he was able to create another dream world for her. It was incredibly similar to the previous one. However, it was better to return her to a place that she would want to stay. It would be essential once the pain returned.

Afterwards, he sat back and watched as Bonnie began to levitate on his bed once more. He smiled in satisfaction and then left the room. 

Damon was waiting in the hallway. There was an unusual glint in his eyes. “I think we need to talk, brother.”

Stefan was immediately suspicious of his brother's sudden appearance. He lifted an eyebrow and said, “Oh?”

“I think we can both agree that this…” he motioned between them “...isn't sustainable. Snapping your neck was fun but it can't continue.”

Stefan snorted and leaned against the wall. He said, “We'll be gone as soon as the roads are passable.  Then we won't be your problem any longer.”

“Yeah that's not going to happen. There is no way I'd let you leave the boarding house with Bonnie.”

He snorted, “I'd like to see you try to stop us. Bonnie won't take kindly to being caged. My little bird is ready to spread her wings. She's only humoring you and Lucy because she doesn't want anyone to get hurt.”

Damon flashed a smile that was all teeth. “I have no intention of trying to ‘cage’ Bonnie. If she wants to leave, I won’t stand in the way. But I’ll be accompanying the two of you. I think a road trip is just what the doctor ordered.” 

Stefan blinked because Damon had caught him off guard. He figured that his brother would continue trying to appeal to his better angel. Damon didn’t seem to realize that his better angels were buried too deep to be of any use right now. He huffed out a laugh, “You know what they say: two’s company, three’s a crowd, brother.”

Damon chuckled darkly and said, “Well, it’s not my fault that Bonnie has two soulmates. You can lodge all your formal complaints with her witchy ancestors.”

The younger vampire frowned because that’s the last thing he wanted to hear. Not only did he not want to share Bonnie with Damon, but he didn’t want his brother getting in the way of all their plans. Damon could be chaotic but he wasn’t ten-state killing spree chaotic. “I thought Lucy said that it wasn’t possible for there to be two soulmates. She seemed fairly certain about that an hour ago.” 

“She held a seance while you let Bonnie lure the quarterback up here to be a meal. Lucy was told in no uncertain terms that the potion is never wrong. If both our marks glowed, then it means we’re both tethered to Bonnie. She’s as much mine as she is yours…”

Stefan growled and tried to grab his brother. However, Damon had been expecting him to lash out and easily zipped out of the way. “Bonnie does not want you!”

Damon shrugged and said, “That Bonnie is a little off in the head. I think you can agree with me there. There’s no way to know what...or who she will want once she’s back to normal. We’ll just have to wait and see. Maybe Bonnie decides that she doesn’t want either of us.”

Stefan hated to agree with his brother but he could definitely see that happening. Bonnie wanted him right now because he was the only person willing to indulge her. However, she had made it quite clear that their tryst was over the moment it stopped being fun. Already her interest had shifted to Klaus because he was more powerful than Stefan could ever hope to be. Bonnie had every intention of seducing and the original hybrid with his help. Not that Stefan’s help was even remotely necessary. Klaus had a penchant for powerful witches that he could mold. Truthfully, Stefan was trying to take a page out of his book. 

“I thought you wanted Elena,” Stefan hissed angrily. 

Damon shrugged his shoulders. He continued with a smirk, “I wanted Elena because I thought I couldn’t have her. That is no longer the case. The way Lucy explains it, the soul marks will have the greatest effect on Bonnie. She’ll want the both of us. She’ll need the both of us. Being away from us for too long would start to cause her genuine physical pain. As much as you don’t want me involved, you’re going to need me...unless you plan on Bonnie spending days at a time in a meditative trance.”

Stefan’s mind raced as he tried to find a way around taking Damon with them. 

Damon chuckled heartily at the expression on his brother’s face. “Game on, little brother. Game. On.”


	12. Chumming the Water

Bonnie stayed in the meditative trance until the following evening. Stefan was waiting for her with a dozen bags of blood but she ignored him for a few minutes. Immediately, she realized that her transition to a witchpire was complete. She could detect the changes in her body and magic without much effort. She could not explain why her magic felt more dynamic in this body that lingered between life and death. That was another thing, Bonnie could sense that she wasn’t quite as dead as other vampires were. Her body’s ambient temperature was the first clue that she was different from traditional vampires. Bonnie was warm to the touch. She was not as warm as a living human would be but she was close enough. 

She frowned because Stefan was talking and interrupting her self-assessment. Bonnie gave him a sour look and asked, “What?”

Stefan noted her attitude but decided against commenting on it. He needed her focused not pissed off at him. He said, “Damon has decided that he’s going to join our road trip.”

Bonnie huffed out a laugh and languidly stretched across his bed. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I don’t want a babysitter, chaperone, or whatever he is trying to be.” 

“I told Damon as much, but he’s your soul mate, too. He’s not going to agree to let you out of his sight. I can’t say that I blame him. I certainly have no intention of letting you go anywhere without me. But his presence will complicate things.” 

“A threesome with Klaus is good fun. A foursome with Damon is way too cocks for my liking,” she said while wrinkling her nose. She stared up at the ceiling as she tried to think of way to get rid of Damon.

A day ago, she would have suggested killing him. Frankly, it was still a viable option, but her conscience was back. However, it wasn’t as loud and judgmental as it once was. Besides, there were other ways to distract Damon. The vampire saw himself as some sort of maverick, but he was painfully predictable. There were only two things he cared about: Stefan and Elena. If either of the doppelgangers were in any sort of peril, he would forget all about Bonnie. She just had to figure out how much chaos her recalibrated conscience would allow her to cause. 

Stefan glared at Bonnie and growled, “I’m not sharing you with Damon under any circumstances. But definitely not in the same bed. I have my limits.”

“There’s no need to get all growly, Stefan. Klaus is the only other vampire I plan on screwing in the near future. As for our Damon problem, I’ll figure that out before the snow melts. In the meantime, we have other plans to make. When need to get rid of Klaus’ vindictive bitch of a mother before we return his coffins. We can’t have him getting nostalgic and deciding to wake her up considering she wants to kill her children and us with them.”

He relaxed once Bonnie started talking about their plans for Klaus. He stretched out beside her on the bed. “What did you have in mind for Esther?” 

Bonnie glanced at Stefan and booped him on the nose. “Well, we have to kill her, silly. I thought that would be obvious. I think the witches on the Other Side will be quite pleased with that development. Esther should have been dead long ago, she’s only a witch. There is something unnatural keeping her alive. I am going to convince Lucy to help me open the coffin and kill her.”

Stefan liked her plan. Klaus might never open Esther’s coffin but his siblings were wildcards. He didn’t know enough about their individual relationships with Esther to make an educated guess. He stroked a hand down Bonnie’s side and asked, “Do you think Lucy will be easy to convince?” 

Bonnie scoffed and sneered, “I could practically smell the guilt and self-loathing on her yesterday. She feels guilty for skipping town without a single warning about Klaus. I’ll play on Lucy’s guilt to secure her cooperation. You worry about finding a safe way to transport Klaus’ siblings. I don’t think he will be very receptive to a threesome if they’re damaged or lost in transport. We also need to find him…”

Stefan chuckled as he listened to Bonnie. She was right. Lucy had been watching over her little cousin like a mother hen since she arrived. She felt guilty for abandoning Bonnie while she was in the path of a psychopath like Klaus. The guilt was multiplied exponentially since Klaus was the reason Bonnie had been killed in such a brutal way. 

He said, “Transportation is easy enough. I’ll acquire an 18-wheeler but we’ll need a protection spell on it. We can’t have someone stealing the cargo like...I did. You’re right, showing up on Klaus’ doorstep empty-handed would be ill-advised.”

“Any idea where your bestie is hiding out? You said you didn’t think he’d be coming back to Mystic Falls for awhile,” she complained. 

Stefan looked thoughtful and replied, “The last time we spoke, Klaus was making a nuisance of himself out in the desert. Apparently, there are a lot of werewolf packs out west. He started in the Pacific Northwest and has been traveling South since. He has a place near Las Vegas. He would probably use it as his home base.”

Bonnie sat up with a grin. She bounced on the bed and asked,  “Las Vegas? I’ve always wanted to go to Vegas. Can we go, Stefan?”

He chuckled at Bonnie’s unrestrained excitement. “I’ll take you to Vegas even if Klaus isn’t out there. You and I could have a lot of fun there. The largely transient population of the strip makes it prime real estate for vampires. We can eat and erase til our hearts’ content.”

“And gamble! And cheat at gambling,” Bonnie gushed excitedly. 

Stefan barked out a surprised laugh and pulled Bonnie on top of him. Seeing her bare thighs peeking out from underneath that dress was having an effect on him. “You want to cheat at what?” 

“Well, with my magic...it would probably be easiest to cheat on craps or roulette,” she said after some thought. Bonnie squirmed to get comfortable on top of him. She felt her magic react when Stefan touched her. It was entirely too pleasurable and curious. Bonnie wondered what it meant. Was this related to their soulmate marks?

He hummed in agreement and said, “We should probably start at smaller casinos so that you can practice.” 

She nodded eagerly and said, “And I want to see Cirque du Soleil.”  

“Any other demands?” 

“Not now. I’ll probably think of more at some point. Now I want blood,” Bonnie said. She reached across the bed and grabbed a couple bags of blood. 

Stefan slipped his hands up Bonnie’s dress while she devoured the blood.

She said, “I want to remove Klaus’ commands from your head tonight.” 

“Tonight?” he asked with a frown. “I thought you wanted to wait until we left the boarding house.” 

“Well, we’re making all these plans but it could all go to shit once you have your free will again. I have to know that you are worthy of including in my plans. If not, I’ll ditch you and Damon the first chance I get,” Bonnie explained practically. 

Stefan wrapped his hand around Bonnie’s throat and brought her face down to his. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily. You and I have plans and I intend to see them through.”

Bonnie grinned at the dark look in Stefan’s eyes. She really did enjoy provoking him. That probably wasn’t healthy but she didn’t care about healthy.  She turned her head to the side and bit into his neck without warning. 

He was stunned for a moment but then growled as Bonnie gorged on his blood. 

Slowly Bonnie pulled away from Stefan’s neck with a smirk. 

“I brought you perfectly good human blood,” he said amused. 

She shrugged and licked her lips. “I like the way you taste.”

“Is that right?” 

She nodded and licked at the blood staining his neck as the puncture wounds closed. 

“And how do I taste?” he asked curiously. 

Bonnie seemed to contemplate his question. Then she said, “You taste like you belong to me. I like that.” 

Stefan was taken aback by the answer. 

Bonnie hopped out the bed before he could say anything else. She sauntered into the bathroom to check her appearance. She washed her face and then reapplied her make-up. 

“What are you doing?” he called from the bed. 

She walked out the bathroom with a sly smile. “I have to go pretend to be nice Bonnie. The spell I’m going to perform on you is new to me. I should probably have a trial run. I’m going to start with Tyler and that annoying sire bond.”

* * *

 

 

Damon had been looking for Bonnie for nearly an hour. He was eager to speak to the girl now that the transition was complete. The boarding house was large but he was familiar with every nook and cranny. It became obvious that Bonnie was staying out of sight purposely. He didn’t even bother trying to ask Stefan about her whereabouts. His brother wasn’t in the mood to be helpful. He was still irritated that Damon planned to pursue Bonnie. Stefan had foolishly believed that he would willingly allow his soulmate to slip through his fingers. Damon wasn’t sure how he felt about magical forces influencing his life, but it was nice to have an explanation for his feelings towards Bonnie. 

In the last fifteen minutes, he realized that Tyler was missing, too. It made his search a little more serious. Bonnie had fed from Matt yesterday under Stefan’s watchful eye. His brother would have stopped the baby vampire from draining the quarterback if she lost control. Tyler didn’t have that sort of safety net now. Perhaps the only factor in the hybrid’s favor was his poisonous bite. However, Bonnie could easily manhandle Tyler with her magic. He had watched her fling Stefan across the room just yesterday. Lucy expected Bonnie’s power to continue to grow as it settled more firmly in her new body. The older witch was considering joining the trio on their road trip. She was concerned for Bonnie’s well-being.

Damon was about to give up on his fruitless search when the cellar came to mind. It was the last place he had considered looking since Bonnie was worried about being imprisoned down there. However, it’s use as a supernatural holding cell also made it the perfect hiding spot. No one would have a reason to venture into the cellar. Furthermore, the stone room muffled sounds surprisingly well. No one would hear Tyler screaming for help down there. As he walked down the staircase, his gamble was proven right. He could hear Bonnie’s almost melodic voice speaking to the werewolf.

The raven haired vampire opened heavy wooden door and raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. 

Bonnie had Tyler chained to a chair and she was straddling his lap. She had forced a gag into the teen’s mouth but he didn’t look too distressed. 

“Kinky. Anybody want to explain what the hell is going on here?” he asked. 

She looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at him. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Salvatore. I am healing Tyler. Isn’t that right, Ty?” 

The werewolf nodded eagerly. 

“See,” she said smugly. 

“Yeah, you’re going to have to elaborate on that if you don’t want me to intervene because this looks...I don’t know what the hell this looks like actually,” he admitted. 

Bonnie huffed in annoyance. She wasn’t overly fond of the idea of explaining herself to the likes of Damon. Frankly, she didn’t like the idea of explaining herself to anyone. Who the hell were they to question her?

Instead of giving voice to her rage, she smiled sweetly at Damon. “Well, you know how Tyler is beholden to that pesky sire bond because Klaus turned him. Well, I have a way to remove it.”

His eyes went wide because that could be a game changer. If Bonnie could remove the sire bond from Tyler, then she could remove the compulsion from Stefan. However, he was suspicious about her claims. “How come I haven’t heard about this before now?” 

“Well, before Klaus had me killed I had been researching the process. I didn’t mention it to anyone because I wasn’t certain I would be able to do it. It is complicated and...painful.” 

Tyler nodded at the painful part. Bonnie had been frying his brain for the last 30 minutes. However, he could already feel Klaus’ pull on him lessening. 

Bonnie smirked at Damon and asked, “Now can you leave us alone? I still have a lot of work to do. The sire bond is layered and buried very deep.” 

“And you’re sure that you aren’t just torturing the mutt for your own amusement?” 

“Would you care if I was?” she asked boldly. 

Damon grinned and said, “Probably not but then I’d have to listen to Caroline complain. That...that I can do without.” 

Bonnie chuckled softly. “She’ll thank me later.”

He noticed that Tyler had puncture marks on his neck. “Had a snack while you were working?” 

She shrugged and said, “I was a bit peckish. This is hard work I’ll have you know.”

He glanced at Tyler with mild concern. 

Bonnie huffed, “I’m not going to hurt Tyler. He used to be my naptime buddy in kindergarten. I mean he turned into an asshole once we were teenagers but all boys do that.” 

Damon snorted. “Naptime buddy?”

She nodded and placed her fingers onto Tyler’s temples once more. She focused her magic on the sire bond. “Our pallets were right next to each other during naptime. We always started out on two separate pallets. But we always ended up closer together when we woke up. Tyler was snuggly and warm even when we were kids.” 

Tyler growled and bucked as Bonnie sliced through his brain with her magic. His eyes turned gold as his werewolf came to the surface. 

“Just a little longer, Ty. You want to be free of Klaus, right. You don’t want to be his bitch for the rest of your life. Because let’s face it, you’ve got a long freaking life ahead of you,” Bonnie said soothingly. 

He glared at Bonnie’s word choice but nodded slightly. He would give anything to get Klaus out of his head. He had hurt the people he cared about because of the sire bond. 

“I was thinking that this would be a good time to talk, Bon-Bon.”

“Now? While my magic is cutting thousand year old magic out of Tyler’s brain?” she asked.

He chuckled darkly, “At least you can't run off.”

“Whatever. Stefan said you plan on joining us for the road trip. I don't care as long as you don't disrupt my plans. Also, Stefan said I can't have sex with you. He got all possessive about it.”

Damon almost choked on air at her response. “Was sex on the table before Stefan ruled it out?”

She shrugged. “Why not? I died a virgin. How pathetic is that? This is what I call a course correction. Besides, you're hot and I like drinking vampire blood so it seemed like a good idea. But Stefan was all I'm not sharing you with my big brother. It was kinda hot actually.”

Tyler’s eyes went wide at that. 

Bonnie laughed at his expression. 

“And Stefan runs things in your relationship?” he said to goad her.

She rolled her eyes at the pathetic attempt to manipulate her. “There is nothing wrong with having respect for your partner’s wishes. Besides, I have no interest in the two of you fighting like idiots and ruining everything. I’d sooner leave you both to Elena. She enjoys that sort of ridiculous competition between you.”

“You don’t want us to fight over you?” he asked skeptically. 

Bonnie huffed. “I am not a prize to be won. And if I were, I would be looking for better prospects than either of you. What do the two of you even have to offer? No, if someone is going to ‘win’ me, it would be a far older and more powerful vampire.”

“Klaus?” he asked with a dubious look. 

“Someone’s been eavesdropping on conversations that don’t concern him. Did you learn anything interesting about your baby brother?” she asked in amusement. 

Damon scowled at Bonnie. He had been eavesdropping and he did learn some things he’d rather not know about his brother. However, he had already guessed that Klaus and Stefan had been involved previously. It was something in the way he looked at Damon’s brother. Klaus always hovered between longing and hungry. 

“Can’t say that I am surprised,” he answered. 

Tyler bit down on the gag as Bonnie poked a particularly painful area in his head. It felt like his entire body was on fire.

Bonnie chuckled and said, “Neither can I. But I’m not one to judge. I say live and let live. Everyone should find their happiness where they can.”

Damon grinned and said, “That’s what  intend to do.” 

“Oh? And I suppose that happiness involves me?” Bonnie forced more of her magic into Tyler’s head. She could almost detect the root of the sire bond.

Tyler grunted in pain as blood started dripping from his nose. Listening to Damon and Bonnie’s banter wasn’t making this any easier.

“It could,” he conceded. “I would like to figure that out. It’s why I told Stefan that I’m leaving Mystic Falls with you.”

Bonnie shrugged and said, “If you were smart, you would latch onto Elena while Stefan is distracted. You know eventually he’s going to turn his humanity on again. Best you plant your flag on Mount Elena before he’s back to normal.

Damon walked up behind Bonnie and rested his hands on her shoulders. He lowered his lips to her ear and asked, “Is there a reason you’re trying to get rid of me?”

She tried to ignore the way his thumbs massaged at her shoulder blades. 

Tyler shot her questioning look. 

Bonnie returned his look because this was an unexpected turn of events. She said, “You are distracting me from my work. Back off!”

Damon chuckled deeply and slowly slid his hands down Bonnie’s arms as he pulled away. “Excuse me…”

She felt sparks of magic under her skin from his touch. She rolled her shoulders and tried to ignore the feeling. Bonnie was reminded of having a similar reaction to when Stefan touched her upstairs. This might be harder and than she expected. 


	13. Riding High

When it was all said and done, it took Bonnie three strenuous hours to completely remove the sire bond from Tyler’s head. The entire process left the hybrid and witchpire exhausted and ravenous. The situation was made more tense because of Damon and Stefan’s presence. The Salvatore brothers bickered and provoked each other the entire time. Moreover, they seemed to take great pleasure in distracting Bonnie from her work. Sometimes it was just talking to her. However, Stefan and Damon quickly realized that touching Bonnie had a demonstrable effect on her. The scent of her arousal hung heavily in the air. Tyler was gagged the entire time but Bonnie could feel the effect it had on him.

Once Bonnie was certain that Tyler’s mind once again belonged solely to him she removed the saliva drenched gag from his mouth. She was still straddling his lap while looking into his slightly unfocused eyes. Her annoying conscience made her feel very guilty for all the pain she had inflicted on him. In truth, she didn’t realize just how excruciating the process would be when she suggested it to him. Part of the girl wondered if she should have started with Stefan since he was a vampire. Being a vampire meant that he was fully dead. However, she and Tyler still possessed a spark of life in them because of their hybrid nature. Bonnie cupped his cheek  uncaring of the blood staining his skin. 

“How do you feel?” Bonnie asked in a soft voice. 

She used the sleeve of her dress to clean some of the blood from his face. Tyler had bled from his ears and nose at various times during the process. However, it was the bleeding from his eyes that had been particularly worrisome for Bonnie. She had been tempted to call the whole thing off or perhaps ask Lucy for assistance. She had even asked Tyler if he wanted to stop but he had stubbornly shook his head. Bonnie couldn’t blame him for wanting to break free of Klaus’ control. It was only a matter of time before the psychopath ordered Tyler to do something that couldn’t be undone. 

Then she undid the chains binding him to the chair. Bonnie frowned at the bruises and lacerations that the chains left on his arms. All of the thrashing Tyler did had cause the chains to become embedded in his skin. She knew that he would heal soon enough but she felt a sense of responsibility. Bonnie traced her fingers over the cuts and bruises until her magic healed them completely. 

He shuddered when he felt Bonnie’s magic under his skin. It was an odd feeling but it was also strangely comforting. It was certainly more pleasant than what he had experienced for the last three hours. Tyler leaned forward so that his forehead rested against Bonnie’s. 

Stefan glowered at the hybrid from over Bonnie’s shoulder. He hadn’t been pleased with Bonnie straddling the teen during the procedure. He certainly wasn’t happy to see her being so tender with him. 

Damon rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall with a scowl. He was starting to see the wisdom in Stefan’s decision to get Bonnie away from Mystic Falls as soon as possible. There was no denying that she was gorgeous. Damon had always known Bonnie had a great body hidden beneath her bohemian wardrobe. For whatever reason, she had never really put her good looks to use. Damon had the strangest feeling that time was over and done with. They needed to get her away from the competition. 

Tyler licked his chapped lips and took a few moments to collect his thoughts. His head was still throbbing and his gut churned from hunger. The process had been taxing but Bonnie feeding on him had left Tyler feeling weak, too. However, he realized that feeding from him had been a necessary evil. The more magic Bonnie used, the hungrier she became. It made sense to Tyler in a way. He had seen their vampire friends require blood after a brutal fight or a serious injury. It must heal or repair them in some way that he didn’t fully understand. However, he didn’t know that hybrid blood could have the same effect. Or perhaps that aspect was unique to Bonnie. 

He admitted, “It feels like you took a chainsaw to my head, but I don’t feel Klaus anymore. Since he turned me, there’s always been this pull in the back of my mind. It was almost like I could feel the tether connecting us and now it’s gone. I just...I feel like myself again. Thank you, Bonnie.” 

The girl blinked in surprise when Tyler folded her into a crushing hug. She could sense his genuine gratitude and it was an unfamiliar feeling. Bonnie’s friends had gotten so used to her saving the day that sometimes their thanks felt perfunctory. More than once, their ingratitude had left Bonnie feeling bitter and unappreciated. Yet she never turned her back on them because it wasn’t in her nature. Sheila had raised her granddaughter to be compassionate and to help those in need. Bonnie hadn’t been able to bring herself to do anything that would disrespect her grandmother’s memory. She no longer felt that way. 

She smiled almost sheepishly at Tyler and said, “Oh. Well, I am glad that it worked. You’re enough of an asshole on your own. We didn’t need Klaus making you any worse. Besides, I couldn’t leave my naptime buddy in such dire straits.”

He returned Bonnie’s smile full force. “I owe you big time for doing this for me. I know I haven’t been the best friend to you in a long time…”

She shrugged and said, “It’s cool. I told you that boys become assholes once they’re teenagers. It’s a rite of passage or something.”

“That’s no excuse,” he muttered. “I owe you for this and I always pay my debts. Name your price and I’ll try to make it happen.” 

She studied him for a minute and then said, “I accept cash.”

He blinked in surprise and chuckled deeply. “Done! I thought you were going to ask for something more substantial...”

Bonnie shrugged and said, “Nah. Money is good enough. I need to buy new clothes and shoes. I don’t feel like asking my dad for money. He’ll ask too many questions and might decide he needs to come home to check on me. Will your mom be a problem?” 

Stefan started when he realized that Bonnie’s dad might present an obstacle. It was the second time in as many days that he had been reminded that the man existed. It wasn’t as if he could ever remember seeing him around Mystic Falls. 

Tyler smirked and said, “My mother has never been too interested in my spending habits. Besides, she’ll be glad to pay whatever you want once I tell her what you did for me. I’ll pay you as soon as the banks are open again.”

Bonnie beamed at Tyler and kissed his cheek. “Thanks!”

“I think that you can get off his lap now, Bonnie,” Stefan almost growled. 

She looked over her shoulder and glared at him. Then Bonnie returned her gaze to Tyler. She bit her lip and  asked, “Is your head hurting very much still?” 

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty bad, but totally worth it.” 

“We need to get some blood in you, but this should help, too,” she said quietly. Bonnie’s fingertips stroked Tyler’s temples as her magic slowly healed the trauma the ritual had caused.

Tyler’s eyes fell closed as he groaned. He rested a hand on Bonnie’s hip and muttered, “What size shoe do you wear? This definitely worth a couple pair of Louboutins.” 

Bonnie giggled softly and said, “I wear a size 9 and I prefer stilettos. It helps compensate for my height.” 

“Consider it done,” he murmured.

She slowly withdrew her fingers from his face. “How’s that?” 

Tyler nodded. “Much better. Thank you.”

Bonnie stood up and pointedly ignored the wet spot on his pants. She also ignored the moisture she felt on her own thighs. She looked at Stefan and said, “I’m tired. We’ll have to deal with your compulsion tomorrow.”

Tyler stood up and quickly slipped out the room. 

Stefan said, “I’d like to speak to Bonnie alone, brother.” 

There was something about the edge in Stefan’s voice that gave Damon pause. He glanced at Bonnie and asked, “Is that okay with you?”

Bonnie chuckled and said, “I don’t have time for whatever jealousy bullshit you’re going through right now. I need a shower and more blood.”

She sauntered out of the room knowing that Stefan was livid. Stefan and Damon were the ones that kept trying to distract Bonnie even after they realized the effect it was having on her. It wasn’t her fault that they hadn’t thought out the consequences of their actions. And it certainly wasn’t her fault that Tyler’s body had responded accordingly. Although, she was intrigued by what she’d felt underneath her. Bonnie would definitely be interested if Tyler and Caroline weren’t doing whatever it was that they were doing. They were in a weird place since Klaus ordered Tyler to bite her. 

Bonnie didn’t need any other friends angry at her. Elena was already giving her the evil eye. However, her ‘bestie’ hadn’t confronted her yet. Bonnie hoped that she would be long gone before Elena plucked up the courage. She really didn’t want to hurt the girl’s feelings but she would.

She went upstairs to Stefan’s bedroom to shower first. While she wasn’t ashamed of her aroused state, they were was no need to flaunt it around so many people with an enhanced sense of smell.

Bonnie took off her dress and tossed it on the floor carelessly. The thing had been ruined by Tyler’s blood. She wasn’t particularly broken up by that fact. It didn’t really fit into her new aesthetic.

She walked into the bathroom and studied her reflection in the mirror. She could see the toll the ritual had taken on her body. Her skin had taken on a slightly gray tint. It was barely noticeable but Bonnie noticed it. She was going to need blood and time to recover before attempting to remove Stefan’s compulsion. 

Bonnie heard Stefan approaching the bathroom. “If you are still in a pissy mood you can fuck off.” 

Damon leaned in the doorway with a mischievous grin. He slowly dragged his eyes up and down Bonnie’s body. “I can’t say that I was in a pissy mood. But if I was, this would make me feel much better.” 

She rolled her eyes at Damon but didn’t make an effort to cover her nakedness. “What do you want?” 

“I just wanted to make sure that you were feeling okay. I also brought you some blood. I thought you might need it,” he said brought a bag filled with blood bags from behind his back.

She eyed him suspiciously. “Where’s Stefan? I figured he would follow me up here. He’s been acting very caveman like lately…”

“Oh, he’s around,” Damon replied vaguely. “Anyway, seems to me that you like his caveman tendencies.”

Bonnie snatched the bag of blood from his hand. She asked, “Did you snap his neck or lock him in the cellar?” 

He smirked and walked further into the bathroom. He rasped, “Look who’s a smart girl.”

She sat on the counter and ripped open a bag of blood. She asked, “Is this going to be an ongoing thing for the two of you? Are you going to snap Stefan’s neck everytime you want some alone time with me? Because I have to say that will get tedious fast.”

Damon watched in amusement as Bonnie guzzled down the first bag of blood. He said, “I did this for your own safety. My brother was not amused by your display with Tyler.” 

Bonnie laughed softly. “I am not afraid of Stefan. He knows that I could kill him easily. I let him rough me up a bit because it is fun. If it stops being fun or if he goes too far he’ll be short a heart.”

Damon moved so that he was standing beside Bonnie. His leg brushed up against her thigh. “Then maybe I did it for his safety.”

She simpered, “Well, aren’t you a loving big brother?” 

“I have my moments,” he replied. 

“I am not going to have sex with you,” Bonnie said abruptly. 

Damon chuckled deeply. “You’re the only one that mentioned sex. I just came up here to check on you.”

“Uh huh,” she said with a deadpan expression. 

“Scouts honor,” he swore with a devilish grin. He rested his hand on Bonnie’s thigh but didn’t move it any further. “My brother was right about one thing, I have no intention of sharing you with him. You don’t know him very well. Stefan seems like a good time now but my brother doesn’t understand moderation. The first time you have to clean up one of his messes, you’ll kick him to the curb. And I’ll be there.”

Bonnie smirked and tried to ignore the way her skin tingled from his touch. This was going to become a problem. She said, “Oh, I know exactly who and what Stefan is. I’m like 80% sure that he thinks he is using me. It’s fine because I’m using him, too. He’s my key to getting up close and personal with Klaus.” 

He tilted his head to the side and studied Bonnie for a moment. “What do you want with Klaus?”

“I thought that was obvious. He’s pretty. Anyway, what girl isn’t attracted to power? Can you think of anyone more powerful than Klaus Mikaelson...even with all his daddy issues?” she asked with a smug smile.

“Beyond the threesome,” he said with an eye roll

“I want his blood. I want the collection of grimoires he’s stolen from other witches. I also need to get close to him to incapacitate him. I know how to get rid of him now. We have to trap him in prison world but that is easier said than done. I’m going to have to get him to trust me...I need Stefan for that,” she said with a smile. 

Damon said, “Tell me more about this prison world.”

Bonnie said, “It’s an alternate dimension separate from our own. The Gemini Coven creates them but it takes the blood of a Bennett witch to lock or open the prison world. I intend to banish Klaus and his siblings there. We get rid of the originals without killing their bloodlines.”

He hummed, “That’s promising…”

She nodded. “Dumping his daggered brothers and sister into the prison world isn’t difficult. But getting Klaus there will be. Can you think of anyone that Klaus likes more than Stefan?” 

“He seems to have a thing for Carebear,” he said with a chuckle. 

“I love Caroline but I don’t trust her to do this. She likes Klaus even if she pretends that she doesn’t. Stefan is the best weapon against Klaus because he wants to hurt him. And Klaus wants him. Do you see how you don’t fit into this equation? He hates you.” 

Damon chuckled and asked, “And Klaus likes you?” 

Bonnie shrugged and said, “Klaus will probably have the same idea that Stefan has...that he can use me for his own schemes. Besides, everyone knows how much Klaus likes witches. Would he really pass up the chance to have a Bennett witch working for him? Especially, one that has gone off the rails for the moment.” 

He studied her for a moment and then snorted. “So this is all an act? You’re playing a dangerous game, Bon-Bon.” 

She hopped off the counter and looked up at Damon. Bonnie kissed his cheek and trailed a hand down his chest. She said, “Don’t get in my way, Damon. Klaus had me killed and he’s going to pay for that. I really don’t care about collateral damage.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Does that include my brother?”

She stepped into the shower and laughed softly. “Don’t worry, big brother. I’ll return Stefan to you in roughly the same condition I found him. He might have even decided to turn his humanity back on by then.” 

“And what will you do once Klaus is out of the picture?” he asked. 

“Whatever I want,” Bonnie replied as she turned on the shower. 

Damon watched the water wash over her body for a moment. Then he turned and left the bathroom. Damon was more certain than ever that he couldn’t let either of them out of his sight. Bonnie’s transition was complete but she definitely wasn’t back to normal. She had become jaded in a way that made her unpredictable and dangerous. 

When he walked downstairs Lucy was waiting for him.

She frowned at him. “How is my cousin doing? Tyler told me about what she did for him.”

“I’m going to need your help.”

“Oh?” she asked. 

“Grab your jacket. This conversation requires privacy,” Damon said. 


	14. Something Wicked

Bonnie had spent a couple hours relaxing in Stefan’s bedroom without interruption. She was leafing through one of the more interesting books she had found on his desk. It was the only thing staving off her boredom. She knew that Stefan had likely awakened sometime ago but he was intentionally keeping his distance. Bonnie didn’t know if it was a ploy to punish her or if he was simply brooding. Either way, she was tempted to go looking for him. She did so enjoy provoking him and there was little else to do while they waited for civilization to start moving again. 

Briefly, she had considered tracking Jeremy down for a blood donation. She was feeling a bit peckish and she had yet to taste his blood. However, she rejected that idea after thinking about having to listen to Jeremy’s annoying voice. His regular voice was fine enough. He sounded like any other teenage boy. It was that whine he did when trying to sway Bonnie that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. She didn’t know if it was truly that grating or was she infuriated by him thinking he had that sort of pull on her. Bonnie had not forgiven him for cheating on her with Anna and she didn’t plan to do so in the near future. 

Toying with Damon would be good old fashioned fun. However, messing with the vampire was like playing Russian Roulette. She didn’t know him well enough to know which chamber held the bullet. To make matters worse, Bonnie didn’t know exactly what the bullet would be. He was obviously interested in her if for no other reason than to spite Stefan. However, he also saw her as a threat. She had to give Damon credit for being more astute than his brother was. Stefan was too blinded by sex, blood, and the promise of revenge. Or maybe his lack of humanity made him oblivious to her true intentions. 

Bonnie dragged her eyes away from the book when she heard footsteps approaching the bedroom. They were too light to belong to a man so that ruled out both of the Salvatore brothers. She was only a little disappointed by that. The steps were also tentative and that ruled out her cousin. The older witch wasn’t the least bit wary of Bonnie. Lucy was the more experienced witch and rightly assumed that Bonnie would not do anything to harm her. She wasn’t so far gone that she would go around killing her own kin. 

That left only Elena and Caroline as the person now loitering outside the closed bedroom door. She inhaled deeply and rolled her eyes at the scent of Elena’s perfume. She called out, “Are you just going to stand out there glaring at the door?”

A sharp gasp in the hallway was followed by the door opening slowly to reveal Elena. She glanced nervously at Bonnie. “Hey, Bon.”

“Hello, Elena…” Bonnie replied. She closed the book she was reading and asked, “Did you need something?”

Elena took in her friend’s appearance. Bonnie was wearing one of Stefan’s t-shirts and looked very at home in his bed. It was like a knife to the heart. She had tried to understand Bonnie’s behavior when she was first turned by Damon. Stefan had explained that witches gave into their worst impulses during the transition. However, Bonnie was supposedly back to normal now.

She said, “I was hoping that we could talk…”

“Talk?” Bonnie said as if she was tasting the word. She sat up in the bed and asked, “And what would you like to talk about?”

Elena was unnerved by Bonnie’s temperament. “What are you doing with Stefan?”

Bonnie made a show of looking around the room. She even lifted the blanket and looked underneath it. “It doesn’t appear that Stefan is here right now. So, I can’t say that I am doing anything  **_with_ ** him. Maybe later…”

Her cheeks grew hot at Bonnie’s elaborate taunt. She said, “You know what I mean. Why are you sleeping with him?”

“Because it’s fun and he’s really good at it,” Bonnie replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Elena blinked in shock. She couldn’t believe that Bonnie was behaving this way. This was not the same girl that she had known her whole life. “You know how I feel about him.”

“Do I? I guess when you started sneaking around with Damon...I just assumed that you were done with Stefan. Was I wrong?” she asked innocently. 

She was quickly growing flustered. “I am not here to talk about Damon!”

“No, you’re here to check me about sleeping with Stefan and I’m not here for it. You’ve been sneaking around with his brother for ages. It’s not any of my business and I couldn't care less who you screw or don’t screw. You should take a page out of my book and mind your own business, Elena,” she said with an unnerving smile. 

Elena unconsciously took a step back because that sounded like a threat. “I...I leaned on Damon for support while Stefan was away. And it continued when he came back without his humanity. But...I know what you did for Tyler. You fixed him and Damon said that you plan to fix Stefan, too. You have to know that he won’t want you once he is back to normal.”

Bonnie giggled and flopped back on the bed. “Oh, sweetie. No, you’re up here because you are worried that Stefan will stick with me even after he’s back to normal. You’re right to be worried. You know he took my virginity on Coach Thompson’s couch. That was a lot of fun. There’s also this whole soul mate thing that is becoming a real pain in the ass. See Stefan believes in duty, honor, and all of that nonsense. Do you really think he’ll ditch me so soon after he’s plucked my sacred flower? The guilt alone will keep him tethered to me for months. But I’ll make you a deal, once I am done with Stefan...you can have him back.”

Elena looked disgusted. “What is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong? I don’t know, Elena. Maybe I got hit by a freaking SUV, died, and got turned into a vampire! I can honestly say that from the moment my powers appeared, I have not done a single thing for myself. It’s all been about saving everyone else...namely you. I didn’t get anything out of the deal other than your friendship...which if we’re being honest has been subpar since the Salvatore brothers invaded Mystic Falls. I am not interested in saving anyone but myself now. I am not interested in making anyone happy but myself. In fact, I have a new motto. I am going to take care of myself and if that benefits everyone else then...great! If not, oh well. Find yourself enough witch to be at your beck and call because this one is done.”

The girl’s jaw hung open because she couldn’t believe Bonnie really felt that way. “Bonnie, you have always been my best friend.”

“If you really think that is true, then you need to do some research on friendships. Because this one has been one-sided for a long time. The boarding house has a library. Maybe you could go find a dictionary and look up the definition for friend. You should also look up the word parasite, because you’ve all been surviving at my expense for too long.”

Elena blinked rapidly and then hastily walked out the room. 

Bonnie huffed out a laugh and picked up her book once more. 

Moments later, Stefan entered the room with a smirk. “Well, that was harsh. I think Elena just might cry.”

She shrugged her shoulders and said, “The truth hurts.”

He hummed in agreement and then closed the door behind him. Stefan flipped the lock but didn’t move any further into the room.

“Are you finished being angry at me?” Bonnie asked with a raised eyebrow.

Stefan took off his dirt stained shirt and tossed it on the floor. “I don’t know. Should I still be angry at you? What have you been doing while I was otherwise occupied?” 

She eyed his bare chest. “Not fucking your brother if that’s what you're getting at.”

He kicked off his shoes and then unzipped his jeans. “Why should I believe you? You were wet and ready when you left the cellar.”

Bonnie’s breath got caught in her throat when she saw that Stefan was commando. She unconsciously licked her lips and said, “That’s what fingers are for...it wasn’t as fulfilling as having you. But it worked fine in a pinch.” 

He grinned at Bonnie’s reaction to him. Stefan finally walked over to the bed. “And my brother didn’t approach you...at all?” 

She rolled her eyes and said, “Of course he came up here to see me. Damon was quite worried for my safety but all he did was ogle me a bit.”

Stefan climbed onto the bed and pulled Bonnie to him. He sank his fingers into her hair and kissed her neck. He murmured, “Did you like him ogling you?” 

Bonnie nodded and said, “But I was waiting for you, Stefan. I wanted you...only you. As long as we’re doing this, I’ll follow the rules we set for each other. You said Damon was off limits and I respect that.”

“And if I said that Tyler was off limits, too?” He asked while tugging off the t-shirt she was wearing. 

She whined as Stefan’s fingers sought out her core. “That is sounding suspiciously like monogamy, Stefan. Is that what you want?” 

Stefan said, “Of a kind.”

“Does that make you my boyfriend?”

He chuckled against her ear. “Well, I did pluck your sacred flower.” 

Bonnie giggled against his shoulder in spite of herself. Her core clenched around Stefan’s fingers craving more. She blinked up at him through half-lidded eyes. “So monogamy?” 

Stefan laid Bonnie back on the bed and moved between her legs. “I propose that we can have sex with whomever we like but always together. Your first real meal was a middle age school teacher...not exactly appetizing. But the world is one big smorgasbord and there is so much I’d like to teach you. You see blood and sex go hand-in-hand for vampires.”

She curled a leg around Stefan’s hip while mulling over his proposition. “I don’t know...eating and erasing is one thing. But sex makes it seem a little rape-y to me. I don’t want to treat anyone the way Damon treated Caroline.” 

He rolled his eyes and said, “I am not my brother. I am quite capable of seducing pretty young women and men into my bed without compulsion. You will certainly help sweeten the deal.” 

“Okay,” she breathed out. 

“Okay?” he asked for clarification. 

She nodded and said, “Only with you. I promise.”

Stefan slowly sank into Bonnie with a groan. He moved his lips to her ear and said, “Damon said that you’re only using me to get close to Klaus.”

Her entire body trembled. It took a moment for her to even register what Stefan had said. She said, “You’re using me, too. Aren’t you? Or am I supposed to believe that you’re suddenly infatuated with me?”

“I could be.”

“You’re not. You’re using me and one day you’re going to turn back on your humanity. And you are going to feel so guilty about everything you’ve done with me and to me. You’ll stick around for awhile because you like to think you’re a good guy. But eventually you’ll go crawling back to Elena. When this is over I want more to show for this than a couple weeks of good sex. Although, I don’t even know if it is good sex considering I don’t have anything to compare it to. We’ll call it not bad sex,” she quipped and tried to rock her hips forward against Stefan. 

He held Bonnie still and stared down at her. Stefan stroked his thumb over her cheek and said, “You’re so convinced that I’m going to walk away from you the first chance I get. Why?”

She didn’t like how deep Stefan was digging. They weren’t supposed to be about emotions or insecurities. They were supposed to be sex, blood, and revenge. She shoved at his chest. “Get off me.”

“I don’t think that I will. You’ve convicted me for a crime I haven’t committed yet,” he argued. 

Bonnie growled and shoved him harder. “Get off me, Stefan! I’m not in the mood for any of this right now.”

Stefan reluctantly withdrew from Bonnie but then laid on top of her. He said, “If you want me to move...we both know that you can move me. But I’m not moving willingly until we hash this out.”

She tried to ignore the tears threatening to sting her eyes. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you are the only one that doesn’t seem to realize that nothing will ever be the same again. I’m your soulmate, Bonnie. Our relationship may change with time but I’m not going anywhere. But even if that wasn’t the case I like you.”

She rolled her eyes. “You like me? Since when….”

“I’ve always liked you but we haven’t had the easiest relationship because I’m a vampire. You’ve been pretty prejudiced against us...for some valid reasons.”

Bonnie lifted an eyebrow. 

“Do you want the truth?” he asked. 

“That would be nice,” she said dryly. 

Stefan said, “I’m tired of being alone. I’ve spent...so much time alone. Never able to stay in one place for too long because I don’t age. Lexi was with me some of the time but she went off to live her own life, too. Now she’s gone and I’m alone again. But then you were turned and it made me realize that it didn’t have to be that way. You and me we could be partners. We could travel the world doing whatever we want...together.”

Bonnie studied his face closely. “You’re being serious?”

Stefan nodded. “Yes. I felt that way since the first night when I watched you kill Thompson. I knew then that I wanted you for myself. Klaus wanted me to be his partner but we have too much baggage for that to ever work. I don’t trust him and some days I hate him. But we don’t have that sort of baggage yet. We haven’t tried to ruin each other’s lives. We could be good together.”

She closed her eyes as the tears threatened to fall. “I can’t trust you because your humanity is off, Stefan. I’m sure you mean all of that right now. But you’re going to feel different once your conscience is back to guide you. I can’t...Jeremy hurt me really bad. I can’t go through something like that for a second time. I just can’t.”

“You won’t. Tomorrow you’re going to strip away Klaus’ compulsion and then I’ll turn my humanity on. You will see once and for all that I mean what I say,” he whispered and brushed away her tears. 

Bonnie turned her head away from him. “Fine…”

She had little faith in Stefan. She was fairly certain he was going to regret everything. However, it was better for her to know the truth now. If she was going to get rid of Klaus, it couldn’t be with someone that wasn’t committed to the goal. She would just have to figure out another way to get close to him.

* * *

 

 

Later that night, nearly everyone was gathered in the living room to watch a movie together. Stefan and Bonnie were the only notable exceptions. Elena wasn’t particularly disappointed by their absence. She was still stung from her earlier conversation with Bonnie. When she tried to commiserate with Caroline, she received lukewarm comfort at best. The bubbly vampire was too nice to speak honestly, but she obviously thought Bonnie’s complaints had some merit. After the disappointing conversation with Caroline, Elena had been reluctant to complain to anyone else. 

Matt asked, “What movie are we going to watch?”

Caroline said, “Well, the options are sort of limited. But I searched the entire boarding house and found what I could. Everything available is on the coffee table.”

Everyone leaned closer to examine the movies Caroline had dug up during her search. 

Tyler and Matt both said, “Indiana Jones!”

Caroline groaned. “Really? I knew I should have left that one out.”

Elena said, “I think Home Alone would be better.”

Matt said, “I don’t hate Home Alone.”

“I do,” Damon muttered. “Why is that even in my house?”

Ric shrugged. “Maybe it belonged to your nephew.”

Damon said, “Just reinforces my decision to kill him.”

Lucy said, “The Craft is a good movie.”

Damon snorted, “Of course the witch would choose the movie about witchcraft.”

She shrugged with a grin. “Guilty as charged and completely unashamed.”

Damon suggested, “The Dark Knight?”

Caroline said, “Heath Ledger was amazing in that movie. I can’t believe this but I agree with Damon.”

Tyler shrugged. “I could watch Dark Knight.”

Lucy added, “Me, too.”

Jeremy said, “I like the Dark Knight.”

Everyone else reluctantly nodded. It was the closest they were going to get to a consensus.

Caroline clapped happily and popped the disc into the player. Then she dropped next Tyler on the couch to watch the movie. She had been keeping a close eye on him since Bonnie fixed him. However, he didn’t seem to have any adverse side effects--aside from the hunger. Fortunately, a few bags of blood had fixed that. 

About an hour into the movie, Stefan and Bonnie wandered into the room. Everyone was surprised by their sudden appearance. They had exclusively stayed in Stefan’s room since the night Bonnie had been turned. Stefan usually only ventured out the room to procure more blood for them. However, today had been a day of surprises from them. 

Stefan saw an armchair was the only available seat. He sat down and easily pulled Bonnie onto his lap. Stefan rested a possessive had on her thigh. He found himself wishing she had worn a skirt instead of shorts. 

She sat on this lap without complaint. The only other option would have been squeezing on the couch with Jeremy, Matt, and Elena. Matt wasn’t so bad but being close to the Gilbert siblings felt like a recipe for disaster. 

Damon eyed them for a moment. “Glad you decided to join us…”

Stefan shrugged with a neutral expression. “A movie night sounded okay.”

“You’re a little late to the party,” Damon replied.

Bonnie chuckled and said, “It was a last minute decision.”

She still didn’t know why Stefan had wanted to join movie night with their friends. She was perfectly content with cuddling in bed with him for the rest of the night. However, he had been rather insistent on the matter. Although, the way he was gripping her thigh made Bonnie think this was about marking his territory. She just didn’t know if it was for her benefit or everyone else’s. 

Caroline said, “I baked brownies…”

Bonnie said, “Oh! I love your brownies.”

She passed the tray around the room until it reached Bonnie. 

The witchpire took one and then looked at Stefan and asked, “You want?”

“Sure…”

Bonnie took another brownie and then passed the tray back around the room. She handed one brownie to Stefan and then bit into the other. She was vaguely curious if food would taste different now that she was a vampire. Vampires didn’t need to eat human food but they could do it. 

She sighed happily after tasting the brownie. It tasted as delicious as Caroline’s brownies always did. Even better she didn’t have to worry about the sweet treat going to her hips. 

Soon everyone settled back into watching the movie. But occasionally Stefan would feel someone’s eyes on him--on them. He made a point of staring back at them. Matt and Tyler both looked mostly curious. Damon, Jeremy, and Elena all looked as if they had sucked a lemon. However, Lucy, Alaric, and Caroline all looked concerned. It was as if they were watching a trainwreck. Stefan supposed they were a trainwreck in some ways. Bonnie and Stefan were going to cause a lot of mayhem together the first chance they got. 

Once the movie ended, Caroline said, “It’s still early. We should play a game or something.”

Damon lifted an eyebrow and said, “Game options are even more limited than the movie options were.”

Matt said, “I saw a deck of cards in a kitchen drawer earlier.”

Damon did a head count and asked, “What card game are we going to play with ten people?”

Tyler suggested, “Seven people can play poker. And someone has to be the dealer. It should probably be the person least likely to cheat. I nominate Matt or Ric.”

Damon said, “That still leaves a couple people as spectators.”

“Teams?” Caroline suggested. “We could always pair off to play poker. Two heads are better than one.”

Stefan squeezed Bonnie’s thigh. “What do you say? Do you want to stay and play poker?”

Bonnie asked, “What’s the stakes?”

“I can think of stakes I’d like,” Stefan said with a hungry glance at Bonnie. 

She elbowed him hard in the stomach. “We can play strip poker another time. Preferably without our friends present.”

He shrugged. “Then I am out of ideas.”

Damon rolled his eyes at his brother. “I know we have poker chips around here somewhere. It can just be a friendly game.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Stefan asked dryly. 

Caroline said, “Poker it is! It’ll be fun. I promise!”


	15. It Isn’t In The Cards

It was surprising but the poker game turned out to be incredibly fun. They had chosen to play Texas Hold Em poker since the teens were most familiar with that version of the game. They broke up into four teams: Bonnie & Stefan, Caroline & Tyler, Jeremy & Elena, and Damon & Alaric. Matt was the dealer and Lucy was helping him make sure none of the supernatural players were cheating. They had played eights hands thus far and the wins were split three ways. Damon & Alaric and Stefan & Bonnie were tied for three wins apiece. Meanwhile, Tyler & Caroline accounted for the remaining wins. However, the young witchpire had very little to do with her team’s success.

Bonnie sat on Stefan’s lap as they played poker with their friends. She squinted at the cards in his hand and tried to figure out their next move. She pursed her lips and then looked up at his amused eyes. 

Stefan nuzzled her neck and rumbled against her ear. “You are a terrible poker player, Bonnie.”

“You’re supposed to be teaching me,” she said with an adorable pout. She liked the game even if she didn’t have a grasp of it.

He chuckled and asked, “Why would I teach you how to play poker? I am going to have fun playing this game when we are alone.”

Bonnie smiled mischievously. She whispered, “You don’t have to work so hard to see me naked, Stefan. All you have to do is ask.”

“I don’t know...something about winning your clothes piece-by-piece would be far more entertaining for me. Watching you squirm while you get wet for me. Ripping that last piece of clothing off with my own two hands. Then there is always the possibility of exchanging sexual favors once you’re out of clothes,” he growled against her ear.

She swallowed thickly and went back to looking at the cards. Stefan’s words were stoking the fire in her belly. Bonnie squared her shoulders and muttered, “Let’s focus on the game at hand, pervert.”

Stefan tossed a couple chips into the pot with a grin. 

Damon snorted, “I couldn’t agree more.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened. She hadn’t considered that the vampire was sitting close enough to overhear his brother’s filthy words. She looked around and found that no one else was looking in their direction. 

Stefan chuckled at his brother. The two of them had been relatively friendly during the poker game. Stefan had resisted the urge to taunt him. It would have made the atmosphere too tense. He didn’t want the game to end early. Stefan needed Bonnie to understand that he was committed to their relationship. After tonight there would be no doubt in their friends’ minds that his desire for Bonnie was about more than just sex. 

It wasn’t just about Bonnie sitting on his lap the entire time. It was the way she leaned into him and looked up at him. It was the small smiles and quiet laughs that were only meant for him. 

Bonnie scrutinized the cards on the table. She looked at Stefan and whispered, “We should raise more.”

He lifted an eyebrow because at best they had three of a kind. However, most of the cards on the table were of the same suit. He had no interest in losing to a flush. He said, “Let’s wait to see what the turn card is first.”

She pouted at him and said, “Fine.”

Stefan pressed a kiss just below her ear and whispered, “Patience is a virtue.”

She huffed at him. “Yes, I’ll be taking patience lessons from the Ripper.”

He chuckled deeply. “I have patience and restraint where it counts. You know that well enough.”

Bonnie bit her lip and elbowed him slightly. She watched the round of betting end with interest.

Matt flipped over the next card.

Stefan squeezed Bonnie’s thigh to keep her still. They now had four Jacks. He planned to bluff his way into a bigger pot but only if Bonnie didn’t give away the game. 

The witch understood the pressure on her thigh and resisted the urge to offer a big reaction. Instead she pouted more and muttered, “Maybe you were right about not raising again.”

Tyler chuckled from across the room. 

Caroline bit back a smile of her own. She had never realized how truly terrible Bonnie was at poker. Her friend had no natural talent for the game. Caroline had grown up spending time at the station while her mother worked. She spent more time than was probably appropriate playing poker. She also secretly loved watching the poker tournaments that ESPN played late at night. 

Stefan said, “Check.”

Elena grumbled, “We’re going to fold.”

Caroline looked at Tyler and she said, “Raise.”

Stefan watched her push half their chips into the pot.

However, Damon seemed to be watching Stefan and Bonnie. He frowned and said, “Raise.”

The vampire pretended to scowl when his brother raised as well. 

When the betting ended, Matt flipped over the last card. It was a 2 of hearts. 

Stefan patted Bonnie’s thigh and nodded at her. 

She grinned and pushed all their chips into the middle. “All-in!”

Matt said, “Let’s see everyone’s cards.”

Caroline and Tyler pushed their chips into the center, too. 

Damon hissed and tossed his cards on the table. He had been worried that Stefan and Bonnie were baiting them. He pushed his chips to the center, too.

Stefan smirked seeing that Damon only had a flush. 

Tyler and Caroline flipped over their cards. They had three of a kind.

Bonnie placed their cards on the table with a flourish. “Four Jacks.”

Matt said, “Stefan and Bonnie take the pot and win the game!”

Bonnie squealed happily and dragged all the chips over to their side of the table. Then she leaned up and kissed Stefan. 

Stefan was pleasantly surprised by the ferocity of the kiss. Afterwards, he grinned at her. “Just imagine how much fun we can have in Vegas.”

She nodded eagerly. “And there I can cheat...a lot.”

He chuckled at that. 

Lucy said, “Be careful cheating at casinos, little cousin. I know of a few that are run by vampires. They recognize our methods easy enough.”

She frowned and said, “Well, that’s no fun.”

Lucy grinned, “I didn’t say that you couldn’t cheat using magic. You just have to be careful. Never stay in the bigger casinos for longer than a couple hours. Always spread your cheating around so it doesn’t only benefit you. Also, keep your senses alert. You’ll know when a vampire approaches. Always leave before they can confront you.”

Stefan chuckled. “Sounds like you are speaking from experience.”

She shrugged her shoulders and said, “There are all sorts of ways for a wayward witch to make a living.”

Bonnie’s eyebrows rose at that. “You suddenly became much more interesting to me.”

“Did you think that I was some straight-laced witch? You did find me working for Katherine. I march to the beat of my own drum,” Lucy said with a haughty huff. 

“Don’t look now but I feel my opinion of you changing rapidly,” Bonnie said with an eager smile. 

Lucy rolled her eyes at the younger girl playfully. “Games with dice are the easiest to manipulate.”

“That’s what I figured,” Bonnie said. 

“But it’s possible to manipulate cards games using magic, too. There is a spell that I am fond of using. I think I have it in my grimoire,” Lucy said. 

Bonnie’s eyes lit up. “I’d love to see it. Unless we’re still playing poker?”

Damon shook his head. “I’m done for the night.”

Stefan nodded in agreement. He patted her thigh and pecked her lips. “Go figure out how we’re going to fleece those casinos.”

She grinned at Stefan and then hopped off his lap. “Do you have any other spells that are good for cheating? Everything in Gram’s grimoire is ethical and righteous. There’s not even anything fun in there.”

“Wait until I teach you how to make a glamour,” Lucy said with a smirk. 

“What’s a glamour?” Bonnie asked curiously. 

She said, “It’s a spell that alters your appearance. It works best around humans and werewolves. I’ve used it with younger vampires, too. It’s harder to trick the older ones. They can’t see through the glamour but they can sense all the magic.”

Bonnie hummed as she mulled that over. She wouldn’t be able to use a glamour against Klaus. She followed Lucy out the room.

Caroline said, “This was fun. We should hang out again tomorrow.”

Tyler chuckled, “You want to play poker after Lucy teaches Bonnie how to cheat using magic?”

She pursed her lips and said, “Well, we could play charades or do trivia questions.”

Matt said, “I like charades.”

Ric reluctantly admitted, “I do, too.”

Caroline grinned. “Great! We can team up again. I think tomorrow should be boys versus girls.”

Tyler snorted and said, “No way. You, Elena, and Bonnie have been best friends forever. You probably have some secret code to help you win.”

Matt nodded in agreement. 

Elena offered a small smile at that. 

Caroline huffed, “Fine. We’ll choose teams randomly from a hat!”

Tyler chuckled, “That works.”

Stefan and went into the kitchen for more blood. He was feeling a little peckish. He was standing over the sink when he heard Elena approaching him. He turned around and asked, “Can I help you with something?”

Elena slowly approached him. She looked up at him from underneath her dark eyelashes. “I just wanted to say that I am glad you are letting Bonnie help you. It will be nice having you back to normal. I have missed you, Stefan.”

He lifted an eyebrow. Stefan wondered what approach Elena would take this time. She had made several appeals to get him to turn on his humanity. Of course all of her arguments had been based on her desire to reunite. “I’ve been home for months.”

“No...you know what I mean. I miss the real you. I miss...us. I miss our epic love. You know that’s what Caroline calls us,” she replied.

Stefan chuckled softly. “You miss us? It’s my understanding that you kissed Damon the same night that I sold my soul to Klaus.”

Elena’s cheeks heated up in embarrassment. She wrung her hands in front of her. “I am sorry about that, Stefan. I...it was such an emotional night and I thought Damon was going to die.”

“I don’t want an apology. I think it’s great that you are with Damon.”

She became flustered and snapped at him, “I’m not with him!”

He smirked and said, “You were until he started sniffing after, Bonnie. Maybe we can help one another that way.”

“Help each other in what way?” she asked in genuine confusion.

“Well, you don’t want to walk out of this empty handed do you?” he asked innocently. 

“What do you mean?”

He said, “I will never be with you again, Elena. The last time my brother and I shared a doppelganger it ended poorly. We were turned into vampires, there were endless years of suffering, blah blah blah. I’m not interested in history repeating itself. You should be with Damon. Save him from himself or whatever is that attracted you to him.”

Elena blinked in shock. Then she was filled with white hot anger. “You want me to distract Damon so that he leaves you and Bonnie alone?”

Stefan grinned. “Ding, ding, ding. Tell the young lady what she’s won, Bob.”

She glared at him. “You are only saying this because your humanity is off. Bonnie is going to fix you tomorrow and you are going to remember how much you love me. You are going to remember how much I mean to you.”

He chuckled quietly and cupped her cheek. “Oh, Elena. I do remember how much I love you. I just don’t care about any of that. Bonnie is mine. She was made just for me and I have no intention of letting her go. Now you can help me by distracting Damon or you can stand aside. Either way, what we had is over.”

Elena shook her head. “You don’t mean that! Bonnie has just worked some spell on you.”

He stepped back and stared at her. “Do you really think that? You think Bonnie stole me from you with magic? I wasn’t interested in you long before Bonnie was turned or hadn’t you noticed? And let me be clear about one thing, Bonnie doesn’t need magic to keep my interest.”

He walked out the kitchen with a shake of his head.

* * *

 

Bonnie joined Stefan in bed shortly after midnight. She had spent nearly an hour in the company of her cousin. Lucy had allowed her to copy several interesting spells from her grimoire. Bonnie had practiced one of the spells with her help. The spellwork was complex but the girl was certain that she would be able to perform them flawlessly with some practice. She was glad to have a few more days at the boarding house before heading to Vegas. It would give Bonnie some time to practice the spells. The last thing she wanted was to attract unwanted attention from vampires or security guards at the casinos.

Once in bed the couple took advantage of the tension that had been building between them all day. Bonnie and Stefan lost themselves in a haze of blood and intense pleasure. Stefan even went out of his way to teach Bonnie a thing or two for good measure. He knew that she was behaving as if this would be their last time. As she prepared to fall asleep, he whispered reassurances into her ear. He didn’t know how well it worked but it was the best that he could do under the circumstances. Unfortunately, seeing was believing in this situation. Bonnie wouldn’t believe his words, but she would have to believe his actions. 

A few hours later, Bonnie woke Stefan up. It was so early that the sun wouldn’t rise for another hour or so. Everyone else in the boarding house was still sleeping peacefully. Bonnie decided now was the best time to remove Klaus’ compulsion from Stefan’s mind. She really didn’t want to deal with an audience or any distractions. Stefan had to agree with her logic. At a minimum, Damon and Elena would be lurking like poltergeists while she worked. It was sheer luck that Bonnie hadn’t injured or killed Tyler yesterday. Stefan and Damon had shamelessly distracted her at every turn because neither of them cared about the hybrid’s survival or comfort. 

The couple quietly made their way to the basement without disturbing anyone. They even stopped off to get a few bags of blood. The young witchpire had learned her lesson from yesterday. Bonnie bound Stefan to the chair using heavy duty chains that he wouldn’t be able to break. Then she gagged him to minimize the risk of drawing unwanted attention. Her last move was to secure the door with her magic. It was a spell that Lucy would be able to break through if necessary. However, it was the best that she could do on short notice. Moreover, her cousin wasn’t the person she was trying to bar from the room--it was everyone else. 

Bonnie was clad in a pair of boy shorts and one of Stefan’s t-shirts. She had began wearing them more than her own clothes. His scent was the only thing keeping her from being anxious right now. Part of her wanted to leave Stefan as Klaus’ puppet. Bonnie could admit to herself that she was enjoying what they shared now. However, there was a little voice in the back of her mind that whispered ‘it’s not real’. The little voice in Bonnie’s head sounded suspiciously like Elena. She would never be able to trust Stefan until he had free will again. Even then she probably wouldn’t fully trust him. Bonnie didn’t fully trust people anymore. She had learned the hard way that people are flawed and never give as much as they receive. 

She stood in front of Stefan and twisted the ring on her thumb. She asked, “Are you ready to do this?”

He nodded resolutely and tried to smile at Bonnie despite the gag in his mouth. He wanted to reassure her but it all fell a little short.

Bonnie returned his smile and straddled his lap. She squirmed a little to get comfortable. Then she placed her fingers to his temples. She whispered, “This is going to hurt...a lot.”

Stefan nodded a little. He knew that it would. He had watched the agony Tyler had experienced. However, he was willing to pay any price to get Klaus out of his head. All thought left Stefan’s mind as Bonnie’s magic sliced into him like a knife. He growled in pain and thrashed against her. 

She bit her lip and whispered, “I’m sorry, Stefan.”

The pain only grew worse for Stefan the longer Bonnie was at work. He quickly lost track of time. All he could focus on was the pain and Bonnie’s comforting words. Occasionally, she would whisper something sweet and encouraging. She kept reminding Stefan that he wasn’t alone--that he would never be alone again. 

The longer Bonnie worked the more she realized the procedure would be more complicated for Stefan. Klaus had compelled Stefan more than once and had left scars behind. The scars almost felt like hastily tied knots to her magic. Bonnie had to take her time meticulously untying those knots and smoothing out Stefan’s memories into something more coherent. In some cases, it meant that he possessed two set of memories for a particular time period--his real memories and the ones that Klaus had implanted. Bonnie felt guilty for delving into Stefan’s mind this way. However, she had to understand his memories in order to avoid leaving him a drooling mess. Being a vampire came in handy because she was able to enter his subconscious via telepathy.

Bonnie devoured the bags of blood they brought to the cellar two hours after she began working. Afterwards, she had to feed from Stefan repeatedly to keep up her energy. Towards the end Bonnie was beginning to feel faint but she was too close to the finish line to give up. She pushed through exhaustion and the searing pain in her own brain to finish removing all of Klaus’ compulsion. Some of it had been buried beneath decades of memories. However, when she finally removed her fingertips from Stefan’s temples, he was his own man again. 

She wanted to get up but didn’t have the energy to move. Instead, she rested her forehead against Stefan’s shoulder. Her eyes fluttered closed as the exhaustion began to overwhelm her. 

Stefan pulled at the chains repeatedly because he could tell something was wrong with Bonnie. He grunted trying to get her attention. 

Bonnie blinked up at him and then looked at the chains. She used the last bit of her power to release Stefan from his bindings. Then her entire body went slack. 

Stefan caught Bonnie before she could topple off his lap. He clutched her sweat soaked body to him. Stefan felt weak but he was in better shape than Bonnie was. 

He held her with one arm and removed the gag from his mouth with the other. 

Stefan couldn’t think of anything to do but call his older brother. He bellowed, “Damon! Damon, get down here!”

Even Stefan’s screams didn’t rouse the vampire in his arms.

He tried again, “Damon!”

Damon suddenly appeared on the other side of the door. He peered into the room and felt his stomach plummet. He tried the door but was easily repelled. “What the hell?”

Stefan said, “Bonnie spelled the door to keep everyone out and us inside. You need to get Lucy. She can undo this. And bring blood. She needs blood.”

Damon stared for a moment in disbelief. 

“Go!” Stefan roared at his brother. 

Damon disappeared as quickly as he had arrived. 

Stefan pressed a kiss to Bonnie’s forehead.  He muttered, “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”


	16. Sleeping Beauty

Bonnie groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She had a pounding headache that rivaled every hangover she had ever experienced. She was also suffering from excruciating hunger pains. It felt as if she had not touched a drop of blood in weeks as opposed to the handful of hours she had been unconscious. Bonnie rolled onto her side and realized that she had been lovingly tucked into Stefan’s bed. However, she quickly realized that the bed was empty except for a cooler with a note attached to it. She grabbed the note recognizing Stefan’s handwriting. 

_ Figured you would be hungry when you woke up. Enjoy. _

_ -S _

She sat up against the headboard and pulled the cooler towards her. Bonnie’s face lit up when she saw several bags of blood and a bag of Caroline’s brownies. Bonnie grabbed a bag of blood first and devoured it in a few gulps. It did little to dull the ache in her stomach but at least her mouth no longer felt as dry as a desert. Bonnie grabbed another bag of blood and devoured it with the same gusto. Despite her hunger and eagerness to feed, she didn’t waste a single drop of the precious liquid. It wasn’t until she finished the blood that Bonnie realized someone was standing at the door. 

Damon smiled at Bonnie from his place in the doorway. They had been waiting for over three hours for Bonnie to regain consciousness. He would have been more worried if Lucy wasn’t there to reassure him. The older witch had examined Bonnie personally to ensure that she hadn’t caused any permanent damage. He said,  “Glad to see you are awake, Witchy.”

Bonnie tried not to let the disappointment show on her face. She had hoped that Stefan would be the first person she saw. Bonnie was confident in her abilities, but nothing had gone to plan. She had wrongly assumed that Stefan’s memories and compulsion would be arranged in the same way that Tyler’s had been. Unfortunately, Klaus had known Stefan for far longer and had compelled him on several occasions. There were times when Bonnie was unwinding months’ worth of altered memories. Even now it felt like an extreme invasion of privacy. She now knew a great deal about Stefan and Klaus’ prior relationship. The memories she had seen suggested that the word ‘relationship’ barely scratched the surface for them.

She flashed a small smile. “I might have overdone it earlier. Do you know if Stefan has experienced any side effects?”

Damon realized that Bonnie was trying to act nonchalant, but she was obviously wondering where Stefan was. More importantly, she was wondering why he was wasn’t with her. He shrugged and said, “I don’t think so but Stefan has made himself scarce since bringing you up here. Is there something we should be worried about? Tyler hasn’t had any side effects…”

Bonnie tried to ignore the annoying pang of hurt. She opened the bag of brownies and bit into one. She explained, “Stefan’s situation was different from Tyler’s. I didn’t realize that until I was working on Stefan. Klaus controlled Tyler via the sire bond. He didn’t need to compel him to do anything. However, Klaus has compelled Stefan a few times. He has also added false memories in certain situations. It made freeing Stefan from his influence more difficult. It took longer than expected and I used considerably more magic. I don’t actually know what side effects if any Stefan might experience from having two sets of memories in certain cases.”

He stared at Bonnie in disbelief for a few moments. Then he decided that behavior was par for the course for Klaus. He ran a hand over his hair and said, “The last time I checked, Stefan was out in the woods. Maybe I should check on him.”

She flashed a snarky smile. “Be careful, Damon. If you keep this up, people are going to start accusing you of being a decent person.”

He looked horrified by the notion and said, “No one that actually knows me would believe that for a second.”

“Really? Well, Elena has been trying to tell me for months that you’re really a decent guy underneath all the...Damon-ness,” she replied with a wave of her hand. 

Damon chuckled deeply. “Damon-ness? What does that even mean?”

She shrugged. “You know: two parts homicidal maniac, three parts sarcastic asshole, four parts alcoholic, and just a dash of roguish charm.”

He laughed and lifted an eyebrow at her. “I think you went a little light on the homicidal maniac.”

“Eh, you haven’t been as murder-y lately. I reserve the right to adjust the proportions of Damon-ness as the situation requires,” she said. 

“That’s where you’re wrong. I have been feeling quite murder-y lately. Unfortunately, Stefan and I can’t go off the rails at the same time. One of us has to be available to pull the other back from the abyss.” 

Bonnie chuckled at his explanation. She had to admit that Damon had a point. Mystic Falls wouldn’t survive if the Salvatore Brothers went on a tear at the same time. She said, “If you’re lucky Stefan will soon reclaim his role as the reasonable brother. And you can go back to terrorizing the countryside.”

Damon hummed and said, “Maybe. As far as I know, my baby brother hasn’t turned on his humanity yet. Until he does...my watch continues.”

“Poor you,” she taunted him. 

He smirked and said, “Being the good guy is very tiring.”

Bonnie snorted, “Let’s not go overboard here. You are not the good guy. You are what we call the lesser of two evils.”

He chuckled. “I’ll take it.”

She devoured a second brownie and then put the rest back into the cooler. The blood had cured her hunger and the brownies had put her in a slightly better mood. She climbed out of the bed and stretched with a small groan. “Well, I need a shower.”

“Don’t let me stop you,” he said with a grin. 

She rolled her eyes. “I gave you a free peep show yesterday. Don’t expect a repeat performance.”

“Why not?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “I quite liked yesterday’s peepshow.”

Bonnie grinned at him and asked, “Really? I’d assume it’s not something you haven’t seen before. I don’t sleep in very much at night and you’ve been sneaking into my room.”

Damon’s cocky grin faded somewhat. He didn’t like what Bonnie was implying. “You were always covered…”

She chuckled. “I usually only sleep underneath a sheet. You’re telling me that your imagination is that addled?” 

Bonnie chuckled louder when the vampire didn’t have a snappy comeback. She walked by him on her way to the bathroom.

Damon grabbed her arm. “Do you want me to tell Stefan that you’re looking for him?”

“Am I looking for him?” she asked airily. 

“Don’t try to play aloof with me. I can smell the insecurity on you like cheap perfume,” he said. 

Bonnie said, “Two things that you are intimately acquainted with...insecurity and cheap perfume. I’m not Stefan’s keeper. He’ll show up when he’s ready. In the meantime, there other things I should be doing.”

“Like?” he asked. 

“I should be practicing the spells that Lucy showed me last night,” she said. 

Damon said, “You’re assuming that Stefan will still want to go on your little cross country trip to find Klaus.”

She shrugged. “I’m not assuming anything. I’d like to have Stefan’s help with Klaus but I have contingency plans in case he changes his mind.”

“Really?” he asked skeptically. 

Bonnie asked, “What part of him killing me are you unclear about, Damon? Nothing and no one is going to get in the way of my revenge. I’d like Stefan’s help but there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Now leave, please…”

Damon held up his hands and slowly backed out the room. 

She closed the door behind him and went to take a much needed shower. She had sweated profusely while helping Stefan. It was another clue that Bonnie wasn’t quite as dead as other vampires. She had been recording all the little quirks for later consideration. There wasn’t a lot known about witchpires. There was considerably less known about witchpires that carried an ancient curse.

After Bonnie showered, she dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Then she collected the spells copied from Lucy’s grimoire and made her way to the library. She figured the room would provide her with plenty of privacy. None of her friends were known to be bookworms. 

She spent a couple hours practicing the three most interesting spells. Bonnie was able to master them easily. The true test would be trying the spells out against her friends. Bonnie would have to talk Caroline or Matt into helping. They were the two that had taken the changes in her personality the best. 

Then she decided to move on to the glamour spell. It would take considerably more time to master. However, Bonnie didn’t have any other plans and it would keep her from thinking about Stefan or what his absence meant. 

She had been practicing for an hour when she heard Stefan shout her name from somewhere else in the boarding house. Bonnie collected her things and left the library to look for him. 

Bonnie headed back towards his bedroom because it sounded as if he had been near there at the time. 

Stefan was pacing the floor of his room when Bonnie appeared in the doorway. 

She was startled by how quickly Stefan crossed the room. Bonnie took a step back but it wasn’t enough to evade his grasp. 

Stefan grabbed Bonnie and forced her against the wall. He slammed his bedroom door closed and then looked down at her with wild eyes. He growled, “Where were you?”

“I was in the library,” she replied calmly. 

He calmed down a little and slowly released her. He rested his forehead against hers. “I thought that you left.”

“Where exactly would I go?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“After Klaus...or just away from me,” he replied in an uncertain voice. 

Bonnie looked up at him and said, “I wouldn’t leave without telling you, Stefan. I owe you at least that much. You took care of me after Damon turned me.”

He smiled a little. “You mean that I indulged your whims when no one else would have.”

“No, you took care of me. I didn’t need anyone to indulge my whims. Before Lucy arrived, which of you had a snowball’s chance in hell of stopping me from doing whatever I wanted?”

Stefan knew that Bonnie was right. Her magic was powerful and none of them would have been able to contain her. Frankly, he knew that Bonnie was only humoring her older cousin until the roads were passable again. “Point taken…”

She asked, “Are you okay? Your head was a little of a mess from Klaus compelling you. I hope I left you in a better state than I found you.”

“You left me feeling clearer than I have in a very long time. I remember...many things that I never should have forgotten. I didn’t realize just how many times Klaus had messed around in my head,” he muttered bitterly. 

Bonnie bit her lip and said, “If it makes you feel any better, Klaus always left you with pleasant memories. I don’t think he was ever intending to harm you.”

He huffed out a bitter laugh,” No, he just wanted to control me.”

She smiled a little. “I’m pretty sure that’s Klaus love language. This is a man that has a habit of daggering his siblings for centuries at a time.”

Stefan hummed quietly. He said, “You saw...my memories.”

Bonnie nodded meekly. “It was the only way to make sure that…”

He interjected, “It’s fine. I trust you, Bonnie. You trusted me enough to enter your mind. I think it’s only fair that I offer the same faith you had in me. But you know…”

“Know?”

“That Klaus and I have been in a serious relationship in the past,” he murmured.

She nodded and said, “I saw that. It looked like the two of you were in love.”

Stefan tucked a loose curl behind Bonnie’s ear and said, “I’m sorry that I wasn’t here when you woke up. I needed time to...come to terms with some things.”

“Oh?” Bonnie asked curiously. 

He kissed her softly and then promised,  “You weren’t one of those things.”

“Really?” she asked in a quiet voice that was so vulnerable that it was painful. 

Stefan kissed Bonnie again and lifted her off the ground. He carried her across the room to his bed and set her on the edge. “Do you know what I felt when I couldn’t find you?”

She shook her head. “Angry?”

Stefan said, “Panic. I felt sheer unadulterated panic. I thought that you left...me. I thought I was going to be alone again.”

Bonnie bit her lip and said, “I felt the same panic when you weren’t here when I woke up. I tried to be logical and reasonable but I was afraid. It didn’t help that Damon was here looking so smug and superior...like he had won. I’m still scared.”

He stroked her hair and nuzzled her neck. “Why are you scared?”

“You still haven't turned on your humanity. There’s part of me that still worries this might not be real,” she whispered.

Stefan huffed in annoyance. “You’ve been listening to Elena and Damon.” 

She hummed in agreement. “I know they both have ulterior motives but it doesn’t mean that they’re wrong.” 

“Do you want me to turn on my humanity?” he asked quietly. 

Bonnie looked at him with uncertain eyes. She nodded slowly and said, “But you have to promise me something…”

“Okay?” he asked. Stefan had suspected that Bonnie would want him to turn on his humanity. She would want to know the truth even if it hurt her. 

“Don’t lie to me. I can’t...just don’t lie to me. If you don’t want to be with me anymore, just tell me the truth. I can handle it,” she said in a shaky voice. 

He kissed her softly. “I promise to tell you the truth, Bonnie. I won’t lie to you.” 

Bonnie pulled out of his grasp and nodded nervously. “Thank you.”

Stefan settled on his knees and closed his eyes for a moment. He needed to prepare for the onslaught of feelings that would reappear when he flipped the switch. He would be bombarded by sadness, anger, fear, shame, and worse of all guilt. The guilt was always the worst feeling. It would eat at Stefan until it nearly drove him into a depression spiral. In the past, Lexi was always there to pull him out of the nosedive. This time Stefan had someone that needed him--Bonnie.

Bonnie watched Stefan warily as she waited for him to turn on his humanity. Part of her wanted to stop him from doing this. She didn’t want things between them to change. Bonnie felt an attachment to Stefan that she couldn’t easily explain. She saw the moment that Stefan turned on his humanity. Bonnie saw the way his pupils changed. 

Stefan looked up at Bonnie for a moment. He was able to ignore his own emotions because she looked terrified. He reached up to cup her cheek. “I’m still right here.” 

She nodded slowly. “Are you okay?”

He groaned and said, “I am not enjoying all the emotions I have right now. I am particularly irritated with everything to do with Klaus but I’ll survive.”

“Klaus tends to have that effect on people,” she murmured with a small smile. 

Stefan chuckled quietly. He looked at her with a more serious expression. “Can I hold you?” 

Bonnie blinked in surprise but she slowly nodded. “Okay…”

Stefan climbed onto the bed and pulled Bonnie into his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “There is a lot I would have done differently while my humanity was off. I definitely wouldn’t have slept with you the same night you were turned. But I don’t regret being with you.” 

Bonnie looked up to study his face. “Why do you regret that?” 

Stefan said, “I know it is an old fashioned notion but a lady’s first time shouldn’t be so...you deserved better, Bonnie.”

“Oh. But I enjoyed it,” she murmured sheepishly. 

He chuckled softly and said, “Oh, I know that you did.”

Bonnie blinked that because the cockiness in Stefan’s voice almost made her think his humanity was off again. However, the soft look in his eyes said otherwise. She burrowed closer to Stefan and rested her forehead against his chest. 

Stefan tightened his arms around her. 

“Does this mean we can't have sex anymore?” she asked curiously.

He laughed against her hair and said, “My humanity is on, but I didn't suddenly become a priest. I am still very attracted to you, Bonnie. And it is always hard to resist a beautiful woman in my bed.”

Bonnie chuckled and said, “Just checking. Celibacy would be a deal breaker for me.”

“I understand the feeling. After I was turned blood and sex were near obsessions for me. It's when my ripper tendencies surfaced. It amplified the normal lust that vampires feel exponentially.”

Bonnie was surprised by that. “So it just occurred naturally?”

He nodded. “Some vampires are just rippers. It's in the same vein of humans that are addicted to alcohol or drugs. It's just part of our genetic makeup.”

“Oh…”

“You don't need to worry about being a ripper. You would have already showed signs,” he answered her unasked question.

Bonnie relaxed a little more as Stefan stroked her back. She murmured, “That sort of loss of control would be scary for me.” 

“In the moment, you don’t even think about the loss of control. You actually feel...all powerful. The ability to turn into a red tornado that eviscerates everything in your path. It’s when you come back to your senses that it all comes rushing back at you. You feel like a feral animal.”

She felt grateful that Stefan was being so open and honest with her about his ripper tendencies. She had never really understood them in the past. Her only concern had been to keep him from hurting innocent people. “I probably shouldn’t have encouraged you at Coach Thompson’s house. I’m sorry.” 

Stefan chuckled against her hair. “I’ve never needed anyone to encourage me to enjoy ripping when my humanity has been off, Bonnie. Besides, you weren’t exactly in your right mind either. And I don’t feel particularly guilty about Thompson.”

“Neither do I,” she confessed. “I’ve been waiting on the guilt to surface since my transition was completed but nothing. I mean...I know my conscience is working again.”

He hummed thoughtfully. “Well, he did kill you. It matters little that he was compelled by Klaus at the time. Besides, you said that you never cared for the man.”

“That’s true. I didn’t like the way he stared at me during class. Even when I moved to the back of the room I could feel his eyes on me sometimes. It made me uncomfortable.”

Stefan frowned and said, “I’m sorry that you didn’t feel you could have come to me about it. I could have compelled Thompson to keep his eyes to himself.” 

“I didn’t think anyone would really care. It wasn’t as if he was actually doing anything other than making me feel uncomfortable.”

He looked at her seriously. “I would have cared, Bonnie.”

* * *

 

 

Damon felt angry enough to put his fist through a wall. He might have done so if getting the old plaster walls repaired wasn’t such a colossal pain in the ass. It would have been easier to punch his annoying little brother in the face. Damon was still rather tempted to do just that. However, that would require pulling him out of the bed he was sharing with the unreasonably loud little witch. Damon could go the rest of his life without seeing Stefan and Bonnie having sex. There wouldn’t be enough bourbon in the world to help him forget seeing them in bed together. 

Just that afternoon Damon had been certain that Stefan was going to turn on his humanity. He assumed that would be the end of the dalliance with Bonnie. His brother had been outside brooding for hours about his new/old memories. He even remained outside after Caroline informed him that Bonnie was awake. Briefly, things had taken an interesting turn when Stefan came into the house looking for Bonnie. His enraged scream had reverberated through the entire house. Damon had been preparing for a world class argument between the two. He even thought he might have to intervene as Bonnie’s knight in shining armor. 

Unfortunately, the pair had merely locked themselves in Stefan’s room for a couple hours. In the beginning, not a single sound had come out of the room. Damon assumed that they had been talking during that time. He had been tempted to disturb whatever conversation they were having, but Ric kept him back. Everyone had been waiting on tenterhooks for them to emerge from the bedroom. However, two hours ago everything changed. At first, it seemed as if Bonnie was trying to keep her moans quiet. In the last hour something changed because she started giving full-throated screams that even the humans could hear through the walls. Damon had never been so grateful to hear the shower start running.

Thirty minutes later, Stefan and Bonnie walked into the living room while holding hands. She was giggling at something that he had just whispered into her ear.

Damon didn’t know what to make of the situation but he didn’t like it. 

Stefan asked, “What time are we playing Charades?” 

Caroline quickly jumped in before Damon could say something horrible. “We’re going to get started as soon as the brownies are finished baking. They were such a hit last night, I decided to bake another batch!”

Bonnie grinned at her friend. “That’s great, Care. Your brownies are legendary. They have just the right amount of chocolate chips and walnuts.” 

Caroline returned the smile. She was glad to see that Bonnie seemed to be okay. She had been worried about her and Stefan. Caroline was in the minority, but she supported Stefan and Bonnie’s relationship. She said, “It’s an old family recipe. My mom used to bake them when we were kids. Do you guys remember?”

Matt nodded with a wistful smile on his face. Kelly hadn’t been a traditional mother so his best memories usually took place at his friends’ houses. 

Tyler said, “I remember.”

Bonnie nodded in agreement. She hooked her thumb in Tyler’s direction. “He used to stuff extra brownies into his pockets when no one was looking.” 

Everyone looked at Tyler in surprise. 

He chuckled and said, “But I always shared with you.” 

Stefan took a seat and pulled Bonnie into his lap. It wasn’t a possessive move. He just didn’t want to be far from her. 

Bonnie conceded,  “You did share the stolen brownies with me...pocket lint and all.”

Tyler grinned and said, “It gave them more texture in my opinion.” 

Caroline giggled and shoved his shoulder. “I never realized that you were swiping extra brownies!”

Bonnie said, “He used to steal my grams’ double chocolate pecan cookies, too. After awhile she just started setting extra aside for Tyler in a Ziploc...that he still stuffed into his pocket for some reason.”

He grinned at Bonnie and said, “I had a healthy appetite. Do you have the recipe for your grams’ cookies?”

She laughed at him and nodded. “Sure but baking isn’t really my strong suit.”

Caroline gushed, “I could help you! Miss Sheila’s cookies are the best I have ever tasted.”

Matt said, “I volunteer to taste test them!”

Lucy smiled and said, “I bet it is the same recipe my granny used. Does it have the secret ingredient?” 

Bonnie grinned at Lucy and nodded. 

Caroline perked up. “Wait! There is a secret ingredient?” 

Bonnie nodded. “Grams always used honey in but it is infused with something extra special.”

“Rum?” Damon suggested. 

Bonnie looked at him as if he had grown a second head. “She was feeding these cookies to children. Although, she does have an amazing rum ball recipe. Grams always made them extra boozy.”

Lucy nodded in agreement. “There’s no other way to make rum balls.”

Matt groaned and said, “Talking about all of these desserts is making me hungry again. When will the brownies be finished again?”

Caroline laughed and looked at her phone to check the time. She said, “Another ten minutes then they need to cool.”

“Or we can eat them with forks,” Tyler volunteered. 

Caroline rolled her eyes at both of them. 

Elena huffed and asked, “Is no one going to address the pink elephant in the room?”

Everyone looked at her with varying levels of surprise and exasperation. 

Alaric said, “Maybe now isn’t the time to bring up that subject.”

Jeremy said, “No, Lena is right. It’s stupid to pretend like we’re not all wondering why Stefan hasn’t turned on his humanity yet.”

Matt said,” I wasn’t wondering that.”

Tyler snorted and said, “Neither was I. Kinda seemed like it wasn’t my any of my business. I don’t think it’s you or Elena’s business either.”

Jeremy glared at the hybrid. 

Tyler just gave the boy an unamused look. He didn’t want to lay the kid out but he would. 

Caroline put a hand on Tyler’s arm to keep him settled. She asked, “Can’t this wait until tomorrow? We’re going to have brownies and play charades.”

Stefan cleared his throat. “I have turned on my humanity…”

Elena stared at Stefan in disbelief. “You’re lying.”

Damon scrutinized his brother’s face and realized that he was speaking truthfully. Stefan’s face was like an open book again. It was a quality that Damon both despised and depended upon. 

Bonnie snapped. “Stefan isn’t lying. He turned on his humanity hours ago.”

Elena’s face went red as she thought about the moans that they heard not long ago. It meant that Stefan had sex with Bonnie after he turned on his humanity. She stood up and screeched, “How could you do this to me?”

Tyler rolled his eyes skyward and then leaned his head back against the couch. It was going to be a long night at this rate. 

Stefan frowned seeing that Elena was in genuine distress. He cleared his throat. “I was hoping that we could discuss this privately...later.”

“You want to speak privately when you are casually flaunting whatever is going on between the two of you,” she yelled. 

He said, “We’re dating. I thought Bonnie and I had been very clear about that for a few days now.”

“We have,” Bonnie echoed with a glare. 

“But that was because you didn’t have your humanity on. I know you, Stefan. You wouldn’t betray me this way. Bonnie must have done something to you,” Elena hissed. 

Bonnie’s eyes went wide. “Okay. I’ve been really nice up to now but you are on my last damn nerve, Elena! I didn’t use magic to ensnare Stefan. Surprisingly, I was nice to him and didn’t fuck his brother. Go figure!”

The room went deathly silent at Bonnie’s verbal jab. 

Elena screeched and lunged for Bonnie. 

Caroline grabbed Elena and held her back. “Okay! We should take a break. We’re going to go outside and get some air.”

“You better talk some sense into Elena before I kick her ass, Care. And I don’t need magic for that either,” Bonnie said calmly with a saccharine smile. 

Alaric felt like he should be doing something as the adult/teacher in the room. However, he felt distinctly out of his depth. He cleared his throat. “I am going to go see if I can offer some assistance.”

Stefan rubbed Bonnie’s arm and asked, “Are you okay? Elena had no right to accuse you of using magic to trap me.”

“I am fine. I knew that Elena was going to throw a temper tantrum the moment you didn’t run back to her,” she muttered. 

Damon said, “Well, this was more fun than charades if you ask me.”

Jeremy asked, “Why aren’t you more upset?”

He shrugged and offered a lazy smile, “I’m a vampire. They’re both vampires. We’ve got centuries to play this game. I’ll get Bon-Bon eventually.”

Stefan never considered himself particularly territorial but hearing his brother’s casual remark made his blood boil. He was suddenly glad that Bonnie was tucked safely on his lap and well away from Damon. He knew from Lucy that the attraction component was not completely in Bonnie’s control. Stefan had seen proof of that in the cellar while she removed the sire bond from Tyler. 

Bonnie rolled her eyes and said, “You think too highly of yourself, Damon. Anyway, I am going to check on Caroline’s brownies. I am not going to let them burn because Elena decided to have a temper tantrum.”

Tyler said, “Second that! I’ll come with you just to make sure they are ready. You know a second set of eyes.”

She laughed and said, “Care is going to chew you out if she realizes that you ate a brownie before they were cool.”

Tyler grinned at her. “Only if you tell her that I did it.”

Damon watched Bonnie and Tyler leave the room. Then he reached out and offered a hand to Stefan. “Glad to have you back, little brother.”

Stefan smiled and shook Damon’s hand. However, he squeezed it hard enough to dislocate his fingers. He whispered, “Leave Bonnie alone, big brother. If she decides to come to you...then so be it. But you will not pursue her or I will make you regret it.”

Damon blinked in surprise and pulled his hand back with a pained expression. 


	17. My Boyfriend’s Boyfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: Small amount of smut in this chapter**

The Scooby Doo Gang ended up deciding not to play charades. No one was really in the mood to play games while Elena and Jeremy were sulking so aggressively. Damon had also committed himself to getting very drunk. Playing a game with Drunk Damon could only end in disaster. However, Caroline had insisted that they all try to air out their grievances the following evening. She hoped that there was a way to mend their warped friendships before the roads were cleared. Caroline feared that if they left the boarding house with unresolved issues, their friendships might never recover. Everyone had agreed to her plan even if no one was particularly optimistic about the outcome. 

Stefan knew that Bonnie loved Elena as if they were sisters. She was just tired of her ‘sister’ taking advantage of her kindness. She also wasn’t thrilled that Elena had accused her of using magic to steal Stefan away from her. The major flaw in Caroline’s plan was Elena’s willingness to see the error in her ways. She still felt as if Bonnie had done something nefarious and unforgivable by dating him. Until Elena was willing to be reasonable there wasn’t much hope for reconciliation. Bonnie had made it abundantly clear that she didn’t plan to break up with Stefan just to appease her. He had more hope for Jeremy because Ric and Matt seemed to be getting through to him last night. 

The vampire had been grateful when he and Bonnie finally retired to his bedroom for the evening. He had spent a couple hours watching her practice the spells that Lucy taught her. Stefan was especially impressed by her ability to construct a glamour effortlessly. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to maintain it for more than ten minutes at a time. It was easy to see that Bonnie was frustrated by this perceived failure. It didn’t matter that Lucy had assured Bonnie that practicing would improve her ability to maintain the glamour for longer periods of time. Stefan distracted Bonnie from the sting of failure by challenging her to create increasingly elaborate glamours. It was easy enough to mimic a face that she already knew. However, constructing a glamour from scratch was more difficult. By the end of the night Bonnie was in a much better mood and more than a little tired from using so much magic. 

Stefan could think of a million different ways he had awakened in his incredibly long life. However, none of them had been as pleasant as feeling Bonnie’s soft lips around his manhood. Stefan tried to say something to her but he only ended up muttering a string of curses that were largely unintelligible. Instead, he sunk his fingers into her untamed curls and tried to keep his hips still. Unfortunately, their pleasant morning was interrupted by his phone ringing on the nightstand. Stefan ignored the first call because what Bonnie was doing was exceedingly more important than whoever was trying to disturb them. 

However, the second, third, and fourth back-to-back-to-back calls were too much for them to ignore. Bonnie pulled away from Stefan and glared at him. She huffed, “Just call whoever it is back and get rid of them. Pretty please…”

Stefan groaned in frustration but said little else since all the blood from his brain had rushed south. It took a moment to gather his wits but eventually he picked up his phone with obvious reluctance. He checked his missed calls and saw that all four calls had been from Klaus. He rolled his eyes in exasperation and asked, “Do I have to? I can turn off the phone and we can get back to more interesting things.”

“Who is it?” Bonnie asked curiously. She moved up the bed to peer at his phone. Bonnie looked somewhere between exasperated and amused. “I was wondering when we would hear from the big bad hybrid. I wonder what he’s been up to while we have been stranded by the blizzard.”

“Killing innocent werewolves and turning them into his own personal sired hybrid army,” he replied sarcastically. 

She collapsed beside him with a giggle. “Sounds like fun.”

“It’s really not,” he said with months of experience for reference. 

“Well, go ahead and call your boyfriend so that he will leave us alone. There is something I’d very much like to get back to doing,” said Bonnie with a suggestive lick of her lips. 

Stefan groaned and his eyes went black for a brief moment as he considered sinking his teeth into her neck. Instead, he pulled off Bonnie’s shorts in a blink of an eye and dragged her on top of him.

Bonnie squealed in surprise at the sudden movement. She playfully exclaimed, “Stefan!”

He grinned at her reaction and suggested, “Maybe Klaus has given up for now and I can call him back later.”

Just then his phone started ringing again. 

She laughed at the thunderous look on Stefan’s face. Bonnie commented, “He’s very persistent. I wonder if he’s like that in bed.”

Stefan answered the phone with a growl, “What do you want, Klaus?”

_ Klaus chuckled heartily. “It’s good to hear your voice, Stefan. How has the weather been treating you? I do hope you haven’t been too bored trapped with your dull friends.” _

Stefan slowly repeated, “What.Do.You.Want.Klaus?”

_ “The same thing I have wanted for weeks, Stefan. I want my family back,” he replied in a voice like steel.  _

“And why would I give them back to you? If you are just going to leave them daggered and stacked in the closet like luggage, they can stay right where they are. I promise that I’ve kept them very safe,” Stefan replied in amusement. 

_ Klaus despised anyone having the upper hand against him. Stefan’s decision to steal his family was certainly a trump card. He threatened his one-time friend, “You know this will not end well for you. You’re playing a game that you have no experience in playing. In the very near future, the protection our friendship once provided will wear off.” _

Stefan hummed in agreement, “You’re right. Normally, you’re the one pulling the strings. You are the one that calls all the shots in our friendship...relationship.”

Bonnie bit back a smile when she realized that Stefan was about to reveal he knew the truth about their past. She could almost imagine how furious and off-kilter Klaus would be. A wicked idea surfaced in her mind, she slowly moved back down the bed and took Stefan in hand. 

_ Klaus seemed to pause at the word relationship. However, he quickly sidestepped the land mine. There was no way that Stefan knew the truth of their past. He said, “I like to think of it as seniority. Besides, you have been known to lose control of yourself. We can hardly trust your judgment, Ripper of Monterey.” _

Klaus’ verbal jab completely missed the mark because Stefan was distracted by Bonnie. He lifted an eyebrow at the mischievous witchpire and bit back a groan as she took him into her mouth once more. He glared at her before his eyes fell closed. 

_ “Stefan?” Klaus asked impatiently when the line went quiet.  _

“I’m still here. I was just distracted for a moment. You call it seniority, I call it being a controlling boyfriend. I don’t like being controlled, Klaus. I certainly didn’t give you permission to compel false memories to hide what you’d rather me not know,” Stefan replied as he gripped Bonnie’s hair once more. 

_ Klaus nearly stumbled over the term ‘boyfriend. However, he quickly sidestepped it and replied, “You already knew that I compelled you to forget our friendship in the 20’s.” _

Stefan snapped, “Don’t lie to me. You’re smarter than that, Klaus. You know that we wouldn’t be having this conversation unless I remembered something more than my relationship with Rebekah. I am talking about you and me walking along the Seine. Did you dagger your beloved sister so that you could have me all to yourself?”

_ “That’s not possible. You shouldn’t...what have you done?” he asked in a strangled voice. Klaus knew of only one way for vampires to retrieve compelled memories. However, that couldn’t be the case since he was very alive and he had not been daggered for any length of time. _

Stefan bit his lip to keep from moaning into the phone. He said, “You should know just how much is possible when you have a powerful witch at your side. I have to tell you, Bonnie was quite motivated to get me out from under your thumb after your somewhat successful attempt on her life.”

_ “Somewhat successful? The little witch survived...what a pity. I’ll have to try again. She has meddled in something that she shouldn’t have,” he growled. Stefan knowing the truth completely changed the dynamics of their relationship and he didn’t like it. _

Stefan stopped being amused and said, “You aren’t going to touch a hair on Bonnie’s head. She’s mine now. If anything happens to her I’ll drop your family in the Marianas Trench and you will never get them back!”

_ Klaus went quiet again. It took a moment for him to comprehend the magnitude of what Stefan just said. Incredulously, he asked, “She’s yours?” _

Bonnie increased the intensity of her ministrations when Stefan threatened to drop the coffins into the Marianas Trench. Angry Stefan was incredibly attractive to her. 

“There’s no need to be jealous, Klaus. Bonnie has a very generous heart and she’s quite willing to share me with you. In fact, you have become an interesting part of our nights together. She’s very interested in learning just how soft your lips are,” Stefan said with a moan. 

_ Klaus swallowed thickly and tentatively asked, “What are you doing...right now?” _

Stefan licked his lips and drawled, “Well, you interrupted what was a very pleasant morning in bed with my girlfriend. Fortunately, Bonnie has what I’d call an intrepid spirit. She decided not to let a little thing like you calling incessantly stop our fun.”

_ Klaus’ throat suddenly felt very dry. “What about Elena? I thought that you were in love with her…” _

Stefan moaned louder this time as he tried to stave off his climax. He wasn’t ready for it to end just yet. He said, “Circumstances conspired against us and now that relationship is a thing of the past. Bonnie is my future and I have to say the future is very bright. Do you know how rare it is for a witch to not only retain their magic after being turned but to become more powerful? I think life will be very interesting going forward.”

_ The Original Hybrid didn’t know which burning question to ask first. He wondered which vampire had turned the annoying little witch. If Stefan was her sire then he might be able to work this in his favor. However, he was also curious about what Bonnie was doing to make him moan like that. Finally, he asked, “What is she doing to you?” _

Stefan almost laughed at Klaus’ strangled voice. He said, “I wouldn’t be much of a gentleman if I told you that. Bonnie is a lady of the highest order and she has my utmost respect.”

_ Klaus cleared his throat but stopped short when he heard a familiar sound from Stefan. They had been together enough times for him to easily recognize what the shuddering breath meant. The hybrid found himself somewhere between jealous and curious.  _

He went quiet for several long minutes while he tried to recover. He said, “Well, this was a great conversation. And we should definitely continue it later but for now I have other things to do.”

Bonnie squealed when he dragged her on top of him without warning again. She giggled, “Stefan!”

He pulled Bonnie up the length of his chest and rumbled, “It’s only right that I return the favor. C’mere...”

“Stefan,” she gasped in surprise. 

“So wet for me,” he murmured appreciatively.

_ Klaus listened to Bonnie’s breathy moans in disbelief until the call abruptly ended. _

Stefan and Bonnie ignored the phone when Klaus called back. 

* * *

 

Caroline tried to ignore the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her. Prior to last night, she could have never imagined Elena and Bonnie getting into a physical altercation. However, it had nearly happened in the boarding house’s living room of all places. Caroline had no doubt that a fight would have ensued if she hadn’t gotten Elena out of the house quickly. She found herself in a weird position playing peacemaker. Bonnie was usually the one to talk sense into everyone. She knew better than to expect that this time around. Bonnie had made it clear that she was done sacrificing her own happiness in favor of everyone else. 

It was apparent that Stefan was integral to her happiness right now. Part of Caroline worried that this was only a temporary situation. Bonnie was still recovering from dying and being turned into a vampire. She was no longer the hedonistic baby vampire that had ripped Coach Thompson apart during her transition phase. Neither was she the person she had been before becoming a vampire. Caroline wasn’t sure that Bonnie would ever become that person again. Frankly, she would be happy if Bonnie found some combination of old and new. Either way, Caroline planned to be supportive because it was what she deserved. 

Caroline felt sorry for Elena in some small way. She knew that her friend had anticipated reuniting with Stefan once he turned on his humanity. She even believed that Elena truly loved him. Caroline had always been able to tell when her friends were in love. Bonnie and Elena both wore their hearts on their sleeves. Unfortunately, that meant she knew that Elena’s feelings for Damon were no passing fancy. Somehow, Elena had found herself in love with both Salvatore brothers. The smart decision would be to focus on Damon while Bonnie was unwilling to give him the time of day. Instead, Elena was behaving like a selfish child who saw someone else playing with her previously discarded toy. 

Last night, she had proposed airing their grievances in a group setting. However, she had more time to think about it today and decided to change course. She wasn’t particularly interested in Damon and Stefan’s brotherly drama. They had been butting heads for over 100 years. Eventually, they would find a way to settle their differences. Jeremy even seemed to be in a more positive place after speaking to Alaric and Matt. He seemed to understand that reuniting with Bonnie was never really an option. She might have forgiven him for cheating on her with Anna, but she would never trust him enough to date again. 

Caroline’s new plan was a girls walk in the woods. It would give the three friends the opportunity to speak openly and honestly. She hoped the privacy of the woods would prevent eavesdroppers or interruptions. She stood outside waiting for Bonnie and Elena to join her.  

Bonnie emerged from the house first. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt that obviously belonged to Stefan. She wasn’t sure if this walk in the woods would do any good. However, she was willing to try for Caroline’s sake. Her bubbly friend had been supportive and hadn’t even complained about having her neck snapped. “Hey, Care.”

Caroline hugged her. “Thank you for agreeing to do this.”

“I’m doing this for you,” Bonnie emphasized.

“I know and I am grateful.”

They only had to wait for a few minutes for Elena to join them. She said, “Sorry I’m late. I needed to find my coat.”

The two vampires nodded in understanding. It was probably very cold for humans. Caroline said, “It’s fine. We weren’t waiting long. Let’s go.”

They started walking along a path that Caroline had scouted out herself this morning. 

Elena cleared her throat and glanced uncertainly at Bonnie said, “I feel like I owe you an apology, Bon. You are one of my best friends. The three of us are sisters in all but blood. I never should have tried to hit you last night. I lost my head and I am sorry.”

Bonnie was surprised that Elena apologized at all. In the spirit of reconciliation, she decided to accept the apology. “Thank you for apologizing, Elena. I accept it. I know none of this has been easy on you.”

“No, it hasn’t but it doesn’t excuse my behavior. I am also sorry for accusing you of using magic on Stefan without his permission. No matter what changes you might be going through...I know that isn’t who you are. I guess I am just having trouble trying to figure out who you are because you seem so different to me,” she said with genuine confusion. 

A sarcastic remark was on the tip of Bonnie’s tongue but she held back. She said, “I hope you know that I am not trying to hurt you or spite you. I genuinely want to be with Stefan.”

Elena tensed but decided to push forward. “That’s the part I don’t understand. You’ve never had any interest in him before.”

“When would I have had the chance? Stefan set his eyes on you from the moment he arrived in Mystic Falls. It was obvious that you returned his interest. So I did what a good friend does and I didn’t try to pursue him.”

Caroline nodded and said, “It was the same for me. Honestly, that’s how I got caught up with Damon. I was jealous that Stefan seemed so into you.”

Elena looked between her two friends in shock. How had she not known that they were both interested in Stefan? She could understand their interest. He was handsome, sweet, and smart. “Oh.”

They all went quiet for a few minutes as they walked.

“Can I ask what changed? Why are you with him now? You know that my feelings for him haven’t changed,” Elena said quietly. 

Bonnie stopped walking and said, “Because Stefan makes me feel safe and I haven’t felt safe since...Grams died. Magic turned me into an ignored and unappreciated servant for my so-called friends. My life has been one chaotic horror story after the next and I have carried that burden alone. I even died alone in the middle of the street like a stray dog. And it wasn’t a quick death, Elena. I laid there in the freezing snow and felt my life slip away like water through my fingers. And I felt relief, because at least I would be safe now. At least I wouldn’t have to fight and struggle all alone anymore. Then Grams told me that I couldn’t stay with her...I had to come back. I had to come back not just because it wasn’t my time to die but because I was needed to save the rest of you again. Even in death my life wasn’t my own. So here I was freshly made into a thing I never wanted to be. My body was different. My mind felt like it wasn’t my own. And I was supposed to trust a vampire that had nearly killed me once upon a time. It was all too much and I tried to run away but Stefan found me. He promised to take care of me and he has kept that promise. I feel safe with him, Elena. I won’t give that up for anyone...not even you.”

Caroline and Elena both looked horrified by Bonnie’s confession. 

The blonde vampire said, “I am sorry that you felt so alone and unappreciated. I guess we all got so used to you saving us that we stopped considering what it cost you.”

Elena shook her head as she thought about the times Bonnie had been attacked or hurt. She considered how her friend more often than not went home to a empty house. “Why didn’t you say anything, Bon? If you felt unsafe we could have tried to help protect you. You could have come stay with me and Jer.”

“Or you could have stayed with me and my mom. You know how much she likes you. And I would have loved having someone to hang out with,” Caroline offered.

She said, “I guess I could have told someone that I felt unsafe and unappreciated. But there was always this lingering doubt in the back of my mind that maybe no one would care. Ultimately, I decided it was better that I didn’t know. If I could pretend that you all cared it was better than the alternative. Because without all of you, I would have been truly alone. You know my dad only makes it home one or two weekends a month. Anyway, dying made me decide to put myself first. I won’t try to hurt anyone else but my happiness and safety comes first.”

Elena said, “I am so sorry that you have suffered through so much alone. I know the right thing would be to let Stefan go but I can’t do that. I love him, Bonnie.”

“I understand that and I won’t pretend that I speak for him. He planned to speak to you privately and I am sure he still will,” Bonnie said. 

Elena nodded sadly.

Suddenly, they heard Damon and Stefan's voices closer to the boarding house. It quickly became apparent that the two vampires weren't just arguing. The girls raced back to the house to see what was happening.

Bonnie's eyes widened when she saw Stefan and Damon brawling in front of the house. She had seen the brothers fight before but this felt different...more dangerous.

Elena screeched, “What are you two doing?”

Ric had his crossbow ready with with a steel stake. It wouldn't kill either vampire but it would bring the fight to an end. However, he hoped that they would stop on their own.

Matt, Jeremy, and Tyler were watching from the sidelines, too. Lucy seemed to be the only one not interested in the fight since she remained in the house.

Caroline looked at Ric and asked, “How did this even start?”

“They tried airing out their grievances and this was the result,” he explained with a helpless shrug.

Elena asked, “Why aren't you more upset?!”

Bonnie shrugged, “It doesn't seem like they are trying to kill one another. They're just hitting each other. Might be just what the doctor ordered. Brothers fight, right?”

Ric conceded, “They do. That's why I haven't stopped it yet.”

Damon threw a particularly vicious punch to the face that sent Stefan staggering. 

Bonnie said, “Come on, Stefan. Knock him out!”

Elena and Caroline looked at her with disapproval.

She asked, “What? He's my boyfriend. I'm allowed to root for him.”

Stefan picked up Damon and slammed him onto the ground.

Bonnie clapped happily.

The fight raged for a full twenty minutes before both vampires collapsed from exhaustion and injuries.

Damon laid on his back and laughed. He could feel a few broken ribs. He said, “We will call the fight a draw.”

Stefan groaned in pain as he tried to sit up. “I knocked you down first. I won.”

Ric said, “He broke your arm first. Sort of feels like a draw.”

Stefan chuckled and said, “Fine.”

Damon looked at Stefan and said, “I'm sorry, brother. I was wrong.”

“Apology accepted, brother,” Stefan said sincerely.

The girls looked on curiously. They didn't know what the apology was for and the brothers didn't seem as if they would be forthcoming.


	18. The End of a Chapter

Stefan walked towards the house after he finished hunting. He had decided to limit his intake of human blood while he still had other options. Bonnie supported his decision even if she declined to participate in his ‘diet’. She also offered not to drink human blood in front of him. However, Stefan assured her such drastic measures weren’t necessary. At the moment, he felt in control of himself and his blood addiction. He promised to let Bonnie know if that suddenly changed. 

He was surprised to find Elena sitting outside. The snow was melting at a good rate but the temperature was still in hospitable for a human born and raised in Virginia. However, it dawned on him that Elena was sitting outside to get a moment alone with him. He couldn’t blame her for arranging this meeting because he had been avoiding her. Stefan didn’t know how to even start the conversation they needed to have. If his humanity was off, he would be brutally honest uncaring of her feelings. Unfortunately, his humanity was on and Stefan had no true desire to hurt her. 

“Hello, Elena,” Stefan said.

Elena looked up when Stefan approached her. She had become lost in her thoughts as she waited for his return. She gave him an anxious smile. “Hi. Did you have a good hunt?”

“It was successful. But it will take some time to adjust to drinking animal blood again. It has something of an aftertaste,” he admitted. 

“Oh,” was her reply. “Well, I am glad that you’ve decided to go off the human blood. I know you struggle with your...urges.”

Stefan said, “I haven’t gone off it completely. Animal blood leaves me at too much of a disadvantage strength wise. I can’t...I have responsibilities.” 

Elena was about to ask what he meant by that before the answer dawned on her. Stefan was talking about Bonnie. She knew that her friend had some plan on how to neutralize Klaus. However, she had been rather tight-lipped about the whole thing. All Bonnie had been willing to confirm was that Klaus would not die. She had explained that vampires were essentially tethered to the Original siblings. Killing one of them would mean the death for every vampire in their sireline. Tracing Damon and Stefan’s sirelines would take more time than they really had. Moreover, they knew for certain that Tyler was tethered to Klaus. None of them were willing to sacrifice his life just to get rid of Klaus permanently. 

“That makes sense,” she conceded reluctantly. “Will you be able to...it won’t get out of hand will it?”

He gave a tight smile. “It might but I have to try this...for now at least.”

She nodded in understanding. 

“I have been meaning to talk to you. I...I owe you more than the cold response I gave you while my humanity was off. I’m sorry about that...truly. I care about you, Elena. I would never want to hurt you.”

Elena asked, “Just care about…”

He smiled a little and said, “I was in love with you before everything with Klaus happened. But things have changed now. Some of those circumstances were beyond our control but some of them weren’t.”

She quietly asked, “You’re talking about me and Damon?”

“Among other things but your relationship with Damon is pretty high on the list,” he admitted. 

Elena snapped, “We aren’t in a relationship!”

Stefan said, “Maybe not but you certainly aren’t platonic friends either. You have been falling for my brother for a longtime, Elena. It started long before I left for the summer with Klaus. I tried to ignore it because I know that Damon has a magnetism about him.”

She scoffed and asked, “Magnetism?”

“My brother is capable of drawing people in...it’s always been his personality. I’m the nice brother but Damon has always been the one to draw people in like moths to a flame. Even Lexi grudgingly liked my brother despite how toxic he was for me,” he tried to forget that Damon had slept with her, too. 

Elena swallowed thickly. “But I love you.”

He said, “I know and I believe you. I also think that you probably love Damon. Even if you didn’t I have moved on and it started the moment I left with Klaus. I left this life and everyone in it behind while I worked for him. It was the only way for me to survive my time with him. Then I came back without my humanity which alienated me further from you. I don’t think we could ever go back to what we once were and I know that is what you want. There is also the matter of Bonnie…”

Elena tried not to roll her eyes at the mention of Bonnie’s name. The two friends had come to a truce earlier in the evening. She knew that Bonnie’s interest in Stefan was genuine but it still hurt. She said, “I just don’t understand how you can suddenly be so into her. I got it when your humanity was off. Your inhibitions were nonexistent and you were looking to get back at me.”

He blinked and then shook his head. “I was never trying to get back at you Elena. Since my humanity was off, I didn’t care enough about you to want to hurt you. I have cared about Bonnie as a friend for a long time. I didn’t necessarily know how to get close to her because of my vampirism. It was like she always held me and Damon at arm’s length. Not that I blame her for doing that after the havoc we’ve caused in her life. But then Damon turned her and I can’t really explain it. I felt a spark the moment she walked through the door and ran into me--literally. Even with my humanity off I knew that I wanted her. I can’t say that is was love at first sight but it was this unexplainable urge to possess her...own her. Then I realized for all the power that Bonnie possessed she was scared and alone. She needed me. Being a vampire is...living so long can be a curse, Elena. You watch the people you care about live and die...that’s only if you stick around that long. Most of the time you know someone for a few years before disappearing to hide the fact that you don’t age. It’s a lonely existence. The one true friend I had, Damon killed her. When I saw Bonnie it was like an opportunity was being put in front of me. She could be mine for the rest of our days and I liked that idea even without my humanity. It hasn’t changed now that I have my humanity again. I am sure some of this has something to do with the soulmate curse.”

Elena frowned but she sort of understood what he was saying. She thought about what little she knew about the soulmate curse. Lucy seemed to think that it activated after Bonnie’s last birthday. It had probably been gradually increasing its power ever since. It would certainly explain why Damon found himself drawn to Bonnie’s house every night. 

She asked, “Doesn’t the curse bother you? It’s affecting your free will in some way.”

He shrugged. “You and I are doppelgangers, Elena. Lucy said the doppelgangers are fated to fall in love each generation as a way to punish the witch who created the immortality spell. If I follow your logic then I could say that the curse is the reason I fell in love with you, too. I don’t believe that for a moment. I won’t sully what we once shared by saying that the universe forced us together.”

Elena’s mouth opened and closed a few times because she didn’t know how to counter his argument. To accuse the soulmate curse of controlling Stefan would be to invalidate their own relationship because of the doppelganger curse. “This isn’t fair…”

He smiled sadly. “Life is rarely fair.”

“I don’t know how to let go of you,” she whispered. 

“It will take time for you to move on with your life but you will. There is a lot for you to look forward to, Elena. You are going to graduate from high school this year and start college next fall. You should focus on all the good things in your life. Eventually, you'll heal and all of this won’t feel as painful as it feels now.”

Tearfully, she asked, “But what if you were my one great love?”

He smiled and said, “You are going to have a lot of loves. Trust me on this. Your life is just getting started.”

“Can we still be friends?” she asked. 

Stefan nodded eagerly. “I would like that very much, Elena. I will be leaving Mystic Falls for a time, but I will return. In the meantime, you can always call or text me. I will return your calls and messages.”

“What about you and Bonnie? What are the two of you going to do about missing school? I mean how long will you be gone?” 

He said, “Our trip is open-ended at the moment. I can’t say when we will come back here. In regards to school, I’ve graduated from high school a few times in my past. It doesn’t matter if I flunk out this time around. As for Bonnie, I’ll make sure she graduates...one way or another.”

Stefan had been thinking about Bonnie’s future a lot since turning on his humanity. He knew that she was focused on revenge and that didn’t leave much space for the future. She could only see her goal of getting rid of Klaus. He would have to make sure that she had options when she found satisfaction.

* * *

 

 

Damon had spent the last thirty minutes looking for Bonnie. He knew that Stefan was out hunting furry animals in the woods. This would be the perfect time to chat up the elusive little witch. He had learned from his brother that Bonnie was avoiding him. Apparently, he was coming on a little too strong for her. Damon was inclined to believe it had more to do with how her body reacted to him. He would always remember those stolen hours in the cellar fondly. Damon still didn’t know how the witch had managed to fix Tyler without causing some sort of brain damage. He and Stefan had been relentless with teasing and touching her.

He had already tried the library and found it empty. He had caught the quarterback looking amused as he wandered aimlessly around the boarding house. Damon cornered the teen and asked if he had seen Bonnie recently. Matt had reluctantly suggested that Bonnie might be in the conservatory. He thought he had noticed her headed that way an hour ago. Damon rarely went to the conservatory. In fact, he couldn’t think of the last time anyone had stepped foot into the glass enclosed room. In anycase, he wasn’t disappointed when he found the witch. 

Bonnie had turned the sparsely furnished conservatory into her own little yoga studio. She had a few candles lit that helped illuminate the darkened room. Her phone was set up to play Gregorian chants. It was situated on a table that held a few plants that had obviously seen better days. She had placed a folded blanket on the floor to stand in for a yoga mat. However, the most interesting aspect to Damon was her attire. She was wearing a pair of tiny shorts and a sports bra as she moved through the poses. He spotted a sweatshirt and pants nearby that she had obviously worn when she walked through the house. 

“Who knew you were so flexible, witchy?” Damon asked in a way of announcing his presence. 

Bonnie rolled her eyes and moved into downward facing dog. “I was a cheerleader.”

“Yes, you were. Do you still have the uniform?”

“What do you want, Damon?” Bonnie asked with a huff. 

He chuckled and said, “I actually came here to talk to you. Stefan and I aired out our grievances. I figured that maybe you and I should do the same.” 

Bonnie shifted into the Lotus position and asked, “Does that mean that we’re going to fight in front of the house, too? If so, can I use magic?”

Damon lifted an eyebrow at her question as he tried to avoid looking between her legs. He was trying to behave. Ogling her wouldn’t set the right tone for this conversation but she wasn’t making it easy. He asked, “Do you want to fight me? And you definitely couldn’t use magic in our fight.”

She shrugged and said, “I wouldn’t mind hitting you a couple times. Not sure I would like the feeling of you hitting me even once. You’re older and stronger than I am. It wouldn’t really be a fair fight.”

“No, you’re right it wouldn’t be a fair fight. But you’re lethal with magic and that wouldn’t be a fair fight either,” he replied. 

Bonnie smiled at his praise of her lethality. She hummed in agreement, “Well, I guess that means that fighting is out of the question for the two of us. How else can we air out grievances?” 

Damon walked into the room and sat down across from her on the floor. He said, “We could try talking. Stefan and I tried that first but found that punching each other was the better solution. Anyway, they claim that women mature faster emotionally. Maybe you and I will have better luck just talking.”

She shrugged and said, “Okay. You go first.” 

“I was thinking you should probably go first, Bon-Bon. Out of the two of us, I would wager that you’re the one that has more grievances.” 

Bonnie worried her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment. “You tried to kill me.”

Damon blinked and then rubbed his hands on his legs. “So we’re going straight to the meat and potatoes. I can respect that. I did try to kill you and that was wrong. You hadn’t done anything to deserve that from me. You weren’t even in control of your own body at the time. I don’t have a good explanation or excuse for that. I was angry at having been jerked around by Emily for over a hundred years and you were just an innocent bystander. Although, it was kinda shitty of her to leave you in the lurch like that. Emily knew me well enough to expect some sort of immediate retaliation.”

She laughed dryly, “Yeah. My family isn’t exactly what I would call helpful whether they are living or dead.”

“Lucy showed up when you needed her,” he replied. 

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “She showed up because I was turned into a vampire and our meddlesome ancestors intervened. She’ll go back to her own life soon enough. I don’t need her help now. I needed her help when Klaus showed up to kill us all. She knew he would be coming and she left without a word of warning. Lucy didn’t even give me a heads up to get out of town. With family like that, who needs enemies?”

Damon could see Bonnie’s point. He asked, “I thought the two of you were getting along.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Lucy is useful. She knows things that I could benefit from knowing. I’ll soak up everything I can before she disappears into the ether. I doubt I’ll hear from her again and that’s fine.”

He thought long about what to say in response to Bonnie’s apathy about her family. However, he wasn’t good at emotional things. He was just surprised to hear the young girl so incredibly bitter. Damon knew enough about vampirism to know this was no side effect from her being turned. She truly felt this way and probably always had. It seemed Bonnie no longer saw the point in suffering in silence. Damon knew a thing or two about making everyone suffer with him. Normally, he would support that sort of chaos but Bonnie was powerful enough to cause problems that they couldn’t easily hide. He decided to refer this issue to his younger brother. 

He shifted and asked, “Do you have anymore grievances?”

She snorted. “Your stupid obsession with Katherine killed my grandmother. I don’t know what pisses me off more: that she wasn’t in the freaking tomb or that you were dumb enough to believe she ever had been.”

Damon bristled at Bonnie’s blunt assessment. He growled at her. “Emily lied to me.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Emily. You claim to be smart but you let Katherine lead you around by the nose while she was compelling and fucking your brother. Then you spent a century pining for her anyway. You stole what little time my grandmother had left for a woman that never loved or cared about you. Frankly, I feel like I should add Katherine to my list. Has anyone seen her since she helped steal Klaus’ coffins?”

He stared at her for a long moment. “Sheila dying wasn’t part of the plan. How was I supposed to know she a had a bum ticker? Maybe if she was a stronger witch...”

Bonnie had closed the distance between them and had her hand in Damon’s chest in seconds. She wrapped her hand around his heart and hissed, “Finish saying that and it’ll be the last thing you ever say, Salvatore.”

“What a way to go,” he muttered despite the pain in his chest. He could feel her individual fingers cradling his heart rather than squeezing it. He leaned forward and kissed her full on the lips. Meanwhile, he slid a hand onto her hip.

Bonnie was so startled by the maneuver that she let Damon’s heart go. “Do you have a deathwish? What if I had pulled your heart out rather than let it go?”

He shrugged and said, “Dying with a beautiful half naked girl on top of me is in my top ten ways to die. If you get completely naked we can bump that up to top five.”

Stefan cleared his throat. 

She looked up with wide eyes and hurriedly scrambled off Damon. “Stefan! It’s not what it looks like! I promise.”

He looked at Bonnie’s bloody hand. “It looks like you were about to kill my brother.”

She glanced at her hand and said, “Oh, I...I guess it is what it looks like.”

Stefan walked up to Bonnie and wrapped an arm around her waist. “What’s he done?”

Damon chuckled from his place on the floor. “That’s what you ask her? No concern at all for your only brother.”

“You are good at pissing off people, Damon. It’s your superpower,” he countered. Then he caressed Bonnie’s back. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Damon...we were supposed to be settling our differences but he insulted my grams and I lost it for a moment.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s okay. I often have the urge to kill Damon but it’s probably better that we don’t. He has his uses.”

Damon slowly sat up with a groan. “Your concern for me is heartwarming, brother. However, you are interrupting. Bon-Bon and I aren't finished talking.”

Bonnie shook her head quickly. “I think the talk is over when one person tries to kill the other. Maybe we should have opted for fighting instead. It might have been less bloody than this.”

He frowned and then conceded, “Tomorrow morning in front of the house. No magic and I promise to go easy on you. I have my own grievances you judgmental shrew.”

Stefan balked at the idea. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

Bonnie said, “I do. Punching Damon will be satisfying.”

“10 AM and don’t be late. I know how much you and my brother like your late starts to the day,” he snapped. 

“Fine,” she replied. Bonnie grabbed her phone and then snapped her fingers to extinguish the candles in the conservatory. She took Stefan’s hand and practically drug him out of the room. 


	19. Square Up

Damon was trying to remember an old adage he’d heard in the past. It fit his current predicament to a tee. ‘ _ Becareful what you wish for, you may receive it.’  _ When Damon suggested that Bonnie should fight him in front of the boarding house--he didn’t actually mean it. He figured that the baby vampire would chicken out in the face of his superior strength. He certainly thought that Stefan would talk her out of the foolish endeavor. His brother had become even more protective of Bonnie now that his humanity was on again. Nevertheless, she strolled out of the house at ten minutes til 10 o’clock. 

Bonnie was dressed in form fitting cotton shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. Her curly hair had been arranged into two French braids to keep it out of her face. Instead of speaking to Damon, she began stretching in preparation for their fight. Stefan joined her a few minutes later. He watched Bonnie stretch in silence. Occasionally, he glanced at his older brother with a wry smile. Damon had the distinct feeling that the pair were up to something. Stefan didn’t usually resort to dirty tricks, because he was the honorable Salvatore brother. Damon also knew that his brother wouldn’t allow him to harm Bonnie--fair fight or not.

The vampire rolled his eyes skyward because he really didn’t know how it had come to this. He had no real desire to fight Bonnie. He knew there was a real chance that he could injure her badly in a fight without trying. Damon didn’t like the idea of hurting Bonnie in any way. Moreover, he was certain that it would make wooing her all the more difficult. She wasn’t likely to forgive him for injuring her grievously or embarrassing her in front of their friends. Damon had considered throwing the fight but knew his pride wouldn’t allow that. His damnable pride was the reason he had even suggested the fight last night. He had been frustrated that his efforts to improve their relationship had gone so poorly. In hindsight, he could see that saying anything disparaging about Sheila had been unwise. 

Tyler and Caroline were the next two people to exit the boarding house. Wolf Boy had a smug look on his stupid face that made Damon want to punch him. He still felt a pang of jealousy when he thought about how tender Bonnie had been with him in the cellar. On the other hand, Caroline looked worried. She was actually wringing her hands like a grandmother. Normally, Damon would have rolled his eyes that the girl’s theatrics but he wholeheartedly agreed with her. He found himself hoping that Caroline might try to convince Bonnie to abandon the fight. Now that the transition phase was completed, she could be reasonable. That was evidenced by the truce she managed to strike with Elena. If it had been a few days earlier, the doppelganger might have gone missing during that walk in the woods.

Matt, Jeremy, and Elena soon joined the growing group of spectators. All three looked unsettled about the impending fight. However, Elena’s eyes seemed to stray to Damon more often than not. They had spoken only briefly since her conversation with Stefan. She had tried to let Damon down easy. The vampire had resisted the urge to laugh. Instead, he took the win and felt glad that he didn’t have to cut ties with her. He didn’t know how to handle heartbroken girls. Damon was usually in another state before it came to that or he just compelled the sadness away. After all he was a cad, not a sadist. 

Alaric and Lucy were the last people to join the fray. His friend had once again brought his trusty crossbow. The metal stake was coated with vervain. Damon wouldn’t enjoy being skewered by the metal stake but it would be worth it to protect Bonnie. He had talked to his friend long into the night. Together they devised a way for Damon to throw the fight without losing face. Alaric would shoot Damon with the crossbow when he felt the fight was getting out of hand. Bonnie would get an opportunity to purge her bad feelings without actually being in any danger. Although, two vampires fighting was always dangerous. There was just too much strength for any clash to be predictable. 

Stefan walked up to Bonnie as she finished stretching. He kissed her and then asked, “Are you ready?”

She nodded with a crooked grin. “Sure…”

Matt interjected, “Maybe there should be some rules…”

Damon looked to Bonnie and asked, “Do you want to establish some ground rules before we get started, Judgy?”

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders and said, “I guess the obvious of not actually killing each other.”

He huffed in annoyance. “Yes, I’m sure that we can agree to not killing each other.”

“Don’t be so certain about that,” she bit out with a heated glare. 

Damon rolled his eyes skyward after seeing Bonnie glare at him. Apparently, she was still angry about him insulting Sheila. In all fairness, she had been rather blunt about his failures and weaknesses. Turnabout should have been fair play, but he knew better where women were concerned. They were fickle creatures that could be sensitive without warning. Damon would avoid them altogether if there wasn’t so much pleasure to be found between their legs. As his thoughts turned to women’s bodies, his eyes strayed to Bonnie’s bare legs. He nodded to himself. Yes, throwing a fight against her was certainly worth it.

“Any other conditions?” he asked with an arched brow. 

“No,” she said carelessly. “Can we fight now?”

Damon gave a pointed look to his younger brother. He was still holding out hope that Stefan might put a stop to this at the last moment.

Stefan only shot Damon an amused smirk before moving away from what would serve as the fighting area. 

He muttered, “No using magic, Witchy.”

“Yes, I remember your condition from last night, Damon. I won’t use my magic  **_against_ ** you.”

Something tugged at the back of his mind because of the way Bonnie had used ‘against’. However, he couldn’t figure out why. Finally, he said, “Then let’s get started.”

Bonnie grinned at Damon and then took off at a blink of an eye. She ran circles around him literally. 

Damon was taken aback by Bonnie’s speed. He had not seen her using her vampiric abilities enough to know that she was faster than him. It shouldn’t have been possible since he was older, but then Bonnie wasn’t an ordinary vampire. Damon spun around in a circle trying to anticipate where Bonnie would be next. Just as he found the correct trajectory, she rushed forward and punched Damon with all of her might in the chest.

Elena cried out, “Damon!”

He felt at least on of his ribs break from the impact of the punch. His body flew backwards cartoonishly before hitting the snow covered ground with a muffled thud. Damon growled and sprang to his feet with ease. He looked for Bonnie and found her standing nearby with a grin. 

Tyler and Stefan both looked just as pleased by the outcome. Damon realized that they had obviously given her some pointers about fighting another vampire. They had wisely advised Bonnie to lean on her speed instead of strength where Damon had her beat easily. 

Damon cracked his neck and said, “That won’t work a second time, witchy.”

He raced toward Bonnie only for her to evade him easily. Damon changed course and doubled around to catch the girl off guard. He rushed forward to throw Bonnie to the ground. 

She used magic to levitate off the ground and out of his grasp. 

Damon stumbled forward and ended up face first in the snow. He slapped his hand against the snow and then got to his feet. “We said no magic!”

Bonnie shook her head. “We said that I wouldn’t use magic  **_against_ ** you. I haven’t done that and I won’t. I happen to be a woman of my word...unlike you.”

Alaric snorted in amusement. 

The raven-haired vampire whipped his head around to glare at his best friend. 

He shrugged in response to Damon’s heated glare. “It’s one hell of a loophole. You should have been more specific.”

Damon said, “When you inevitably get cirrhosis of the liver, I will not compel you to the top of the transplant list.”

Ric smirked. “Sure you will…”

Bonnie cleared her throat. “We’re supposed to be fighting. Or are you quitting already.”

Damon chuckled darkly and jumped into the air and knocked Bonnie to the ground. He landed on top of her and asked, “You’re a cocky little thing aren’t you?”

She grunted from the impact. Her back was already throbbing and her chest hurt. “Thanks for the suggestion.”

“What suggestion?” Damon asked before howling in pain because Bonnie drove her knee into his groin. 

There was a collective intake of breath from the assembled men. 

Bonnie struggled to push Damon off her but did before he could recover. She got to her feet and rubbed at her chest to ease the pain. Bonnie kicked Damon in the head while he was still prone on the ground.

Damon grabbed Bonnie’s leg and drug her back onto the ground. He headbutted the girl so that they both had matching bloody noses. “You are a dirty fighter.”

Stefan looked on in concern. He wouldn’t interfere unless Bonnie truly needed his help. He knew that she wanted to do this for herself. 

Bonnie reeled back from the pain of the headbutt. She could feel blood trickling down her face. “And you aren’t really trying to win. I never took you for a loser.”

“Where’s the glory in beating a vampire younger and weaker than I am? I’ll just look like a bully.”

“Since when are you worried about appearances?” she asked. 

Damon growled and stood up. He said, “I quit.” 

Bonnie stood up, too. “You quit?”

He walked up to Bonnie and grabbed her hand. Damon placed it over his heart. “You’re pissed that your grams died helping me. I can’t say that I blame you for being angry at me. Sheila was the person that raised you...you were willing to die to reunite with her. Nothing I do or say is going to bring her back. An apology won’t cut it and this fight isn’t going to make it any better. The only satisfaction you’re ever going to have is by killing me. You started the job last night...then finish it.”

Elena said, “Damon you can’t be serious! What are you doing?”

Stefan looked on in confusion. His brother’s words had sounded genuine but it wasn’t as if he wanted to die. Damon had always put his survival at the top of the list. 

Bonnie stared up into Damon’s blue eyes. She couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. Bonnie tried to ignore the sparks she felt under her skin from his touch. She snatched her hand out of his grasp. “What if I call your bluff? What then?”

“Then I’m dead and I don’t have to care what comes next? But you will.’ he replied gazing back her. 

Bonnie tried to look for Stefan for guidance because she suddenly felt out of her depth. 

“Ah ah ah. This is between the two of us, witchy. My brother doesn’t get a say in this matter. Do you want me dead or not?” he demanded. 

Elena said, “Somebody do something! This has gotten way out of hand.”

Stefan was inclined to agree and he started to move towards the strange stalemate.

“Stay back,” Damon snapped at his brother. “Are you going to kill me or not, Witchy? Tick tock! Tick tock!”

Bonnie pulled out of Damon’s grasp and stumbled away from him. She spat, “I hate you.”

He chuckled and moved closer to her once again. He caressed her cheek. “You don’t hate me, Bon-Bon. If you did, my heart would be in your hand right now. Come find me if you decide to change your mind...”

She swallowed thickly and watched as he strutted into the house. Bonnie let out a guttural screech and then took off in the opposite direction at her top speed.

“Bonnie!” Stefan yelled after her. 

Bonnie heard Stefan call for her but couldn’t make her feet stop. She needed to get away from the boarding house and Damon. So she ran and ran until everything familiar disappeared from view. Bonnie stopped suddenly and looked around in confusion. She had obviously left Mystic Falls behind.

She spun around trying to find any sort of signage that might indicate where she had ended up. However, she knew with certainty that this was the boonies. Bonnie had run from Mystic Falls and ended up in a sparsely populated rural area. She decided to be grateful for that. It wasn’t likely that anyone had seen her suddenly appear. 

Tyler narrowly avoided Bonnie as he ran towards her. He came to an abrupt stop and looked at her with concern. 

Bonnie was startled by his sudden arrival. “What are you doing here?”

“We were all worried about you and I am the fastest in the group...being a hybrid is useful for a few things,” he said with a wry smile. 

She huffed out a small laugh and sat down on a log fence. “Any idea where we are?”

Tyler looked around and asked, “Somewhere that banjos and missing teeth are commonplace?”

Bonnie laughed genuinely that time. “I was thinking the same thing.”

He looked around again and then sat beside her. “It’ll be a straight shot back to Mystic Falls. You ran in a straight line.” 

“That’s good to know at least. Thanks for coming after me but you didn’t have to do that,” she muttered quietly. 

He said, “I couldn’t let my naptime buddy run off alone.”

She laughed a little. Then her mood sobered, “I could have killed him. Why didn’t I kill him?”

“It could be that you are a good person. Killing someone in retribution isn’t really your style. Maybe you’ve just gotten used to having Damon around...as annoying as he can be. Or maybe it is the whole soulmate thing,” he suggested. 

Bonnie’s expression darkened at the mention of the soulmate curse. She scoffed, “One of my alleged soulmates is responsible for my grandmother’s death and nearly killed me. Witches have a sick sense of humor.”

Tyler frowned as he tried to think of something useful to say. This wasn’t exactly his area of expertise. He wasn’t good at comforting people. He asked, “Can the curse be broken?”

She was startled by the question. “I don’t know...maybe.”

“I mean Klaus broke his curse. Why can’t you break yours?” he asked. 

“I don’t even know where I would begin looking for clues. Klaus at least new the origins of his curse. He was there when it happened. I...oh,” Bonnie said with a grin. 

Tyler chuckled. “What’s that look for?”

“You are a genius, Tyler!”

He asked, “How hard did Damon headbutt you? No one has ever accused me of being a genius.”

“Well, they just didn’t know you well enough! A curse is just magic...almost like a woven tapestry. There is usually a way to undo it, you just have to pull the right thread.”

“And where will you start pulling?” he asked intrigued and confused. 

“At the beginning…” she said.

* * *

 

Stefan was tempted to kill Damon for the stunt he had pulled with Bonnie. His brother was well aware of that and had wisely made himself scarce. Stefan had wanted to chase after Bonnie but she was too fast for him to catch. Fortunately, Tyler was a hybrid and could move at a similar speed. He had volunteered to track her down without prompting from anyone. Bonnie had been gone for almost an hour and it was driving him crazy. He couldn’t even call Tyler for an update because he had left the boarding house without his phone. Stefan would just have to wait until they returned. 

He sought out Lucy for a much needed conversation about the soulmate curse. Stefan and Bonnie had been stubbornly ignoring what was looking them right in the face. Ancient magic had been injected into their relationship and they couldn’t simply ignore it. Stefan’s conversation with Lucy had left him educated but largely unsatisfied. 

Afterwards, he retreated to his bedroom for some much needed privacy. Stefan could feel his irritation grow the longer everyone stared at him. He decided to lay down but of course his phone started ringing. Stefan hoped that it was Bonnie but should have known better. The incoming call was from none other than Klaus. His former friend/lover had already called a few times that morning. Stefan wasn’t sure if it would be more threats or questions. The Original Hybrid had been very curious about his relationship with Bonnie. They had baited the trap perfectly but Stefan was in no mood to toy with their prey. 

He ignored Klaus’ call and then put the phone on silent. Then he closed his eyes and tried to relax. He trusted that Bonnie would come back. They had both promised not to leave one another. She wouldn’t break her promise to him.

An hour later, Bonnie sheepishly entered the room. She glanced at the bed and found Stefan asleep. She slowly closed the door to close it without sound. 

“I’m awake,” Stefan said in a quiet voice.

Bonnie startled just a little before racing over to the bed. She climbed in beside him and said, “Hi.”

He pulled Bonnie closer to him and kissed her lips. “Hi.”

She curled up against Stefan and rested her head on his chest. 

“Are you better?” he asked. 

Bonnie drew circles on his chest with her finger. She nodded. “I just needed to blow off some steam...so I ran.”

“Did Tyler catch up to you?” he asked. 

“Yes, but I was still...not in the right headspace. So we went running even further,” she confessed. 

Stefan kissed the top of her head. “I feel like I didn’t prepare you enough for the fight. I’m sorry.”

She quickly shook her head. “Don’t say that, Stefan. You were an amazing coach. I was totally kicking Damon’s ass before he decided to change tactics. He caught me off guard, but that was his intention.”

“Well, I don’t think Damon ever actually wanted to fight you,” Stefan said.

“What? Why did he suggest a fight if he didn’t want to do it?”

Stefan chuckled dryly, “Because my brother is an idiot. He wants...he wants to get closer to you, Bonnie. He knows that will never happen if you’re still holding a grudge against him.”

“But I’m not holding a grudge against him. I’ve accepted what happened to Grams. He’s the one that wanted to air out grievances,” she replied with a confused look. 

“I mentioned that my brother is an idiot. He’s not good with relationships.”

Bonnie frowned. “We’re not in a relationship. I don’t want him to be my soulmate.”

Stefan stroked her back. “If your reaction outside is anything to go by, you don’t have much of a say in the matter.”

“Does that upset you?” she murmured. 

“It’s magic. It’s not as if it is something that you can help.”

“That’s not really an answer…”

Stefan said, “You know my relationship with Damon is complicated but ultimately I do love my brother. I also know when he’s being sincere. His affection for you is sincere, Bonnie. He’s not going to stop pursuing you.”

Bonnie tensed. “Are you breaking up with me?”

He pulled Bonnie on top of him and said, “No, I am not breaking up with you. I am just being realistic, something we haven’t been since we found out about the curse. We’ve been behaving as if you have a choice in the matter when you don’t. It’s not either or...it is both.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want him. I want you, Stefan.”

He pulled her down for a kiss. He said, “You want us both and we’re going to have to find a way to deal with that. Satisfying the parameters of the curse doesn’t mean that you have to sleep with Damon. But you will have to start spending more time with him. Lucy said it’s the only way to lessen his affect on you.”

“You talked to Lucy?” she asked. 

He smiled at her. “I had some time on my hands while you were away. And I realized there was a lot that I didn’t know about the curse. When my humanity was off, I didn’t care about the details. We have to care about the details now.”

Bonnie asked, “I just have to spend time with Damon? Nothing else…”

“It won’t be easy to resist getting closer to him, Bonnie,” he warned. 

She worried her bottom lip. “Or I could just look for a way to break the curse.”

Stefan looked at her and asked, “Is that an option?”

“I don’t know….maybe. It can’t hurt to at least try but I am going to need better resources. I need books about old magic--very old magic.”

He nodded in understanding. “We’re going to need Klaus.”

She said, “He has an impressive collection of stolen grimoires and he’s old as dirt. He might know something or know someone who could be useful.”

“Getting him to cooperate won’t be easy,” he pointed out. 

Bonnie grinned and said, “I think together, you and I could be very convincing. You said yourself that Klaus was intrigued by what little he heard over the phone. I am sure that intrigue would grow exponentially in person.”

Stefan asked, “Are you sure about sleeping with Klaus?”

She chuckled, “I am sure. I meant what I said about seeing just how soft his lips are. Did you change your mind?”

He smirked at Bonnie and said, “No, I haven't changed my mind.”

“Good,” she said excitedly. 

“The roads should be clear tomorrow or the day after at the latest. I think it’s time to start planning our trip West,” he said. 

“Okay. Plane or car?” she asked. 

“I was looking forward to a road trip with you but Klaus is getting impatient,” he confessed.

Bonnie pouted, “Maybe on the way back?”

“Definitely,” Stefan agreed. “There are many places I would like to show you.”

“Really? I've never been west of the Mississippi River so it will all be new to me.”

“Then I am glad that you will get to see it with me. I'm a tour guide and a historian all wrapped up in one.”

Bonnie grinned at him. She asked, “Has Klaus called today?”

He rolled his eyes. “Several times…”

“We should call him back. We wouldn't want to be rude. After I get a shower that is.”

“Oh?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded and said, “ I learned something new about myself today. Fighting makes me horny. We should use that to our advantage.”

Stefan chuckled as she climbed out the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.


	20. Material Girl

It took another day before all the roads were passable once again. Caroline tried to convince Bonnie to stay in Mystic Falls for a few days. She didn’t believe there was a compelling reason to rush into the lion’s den. Bonnie appreciated Caroline’s concern because she knew that it was genuine. Nevertheless, she was eager to leave the boarding house and Mystic Falls behind for the foreseeable future. She loved her friends but she never wanted to be trapped in close quarters with them ever again. The next time a Nor'easter descended on Virginia, Bonnie was going to hop a flight to the nearest destination with sand, crystal blue water, and cocktails with umbrellas.  

Stefan was committed to finding a way to make their perplexing soulmate situation work. He managed to convince Bonnie to accept that Damon’s presence was a necessary evil. The curse would make a prolonged separation painful for both of them. Lucy bolstered Stefan’s argument by explaining the pain was not merely the emotional kind. Prolonged separation from a soulmate could trigger severe physical pain. In fact, there were stories of it driving a previous Bennett witch mad. In the spirit of cooperation, Stefan booked three first class tickets to Las Vegas. They would be flying out of Richmond International Airport the following morning. 

Bonnie and Stefan decided to leave for Richmond a day early. She wanted to go shopping before embarking on their cross-country trip. Unfortunately, Mystic Falls retail options were seriously lacking. Stefan assured her that there was no shortage of stores in downtown Richmond. She still wasn’t in love with her current wardrobe and Stefan had promised to rectify that. Initially, Stefan had proposed stealing Bonnie’s new wardrobe. However, his humanity was on again and his desire to break the law had been greatly diminished. She didn’t care if they bought the new clothes or stole them. Bonnie just wanted a change of style to match her change in attitude. 

Tyler had kept his word on paying Bonnie for removing the sire bond. He went to the bank first thing that morning and made a sizable withdrawal. He also ordered two pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, with Bonnie’s input, to be picked up at the Saks Fifth Avenue in Richmond. Bonnie was glad that he truly appreciated her effort in removing the sire bond. The cash and shoes were really just icing on the cake. Tyler also gave her a few helpful tips about Klaus. He had learned a lot about the Original Hybrid while being sired to him. Tyler had learned things he was sure Klaus never intended for him to know. At the very least, Klaus never expected him to be able to use the information against him. Previously, the sire bond would have prevented Tyler from acting against him. 

After checking into their hotel, Bonnie researched the local boutiques. She found one that seemed to offer the styles she thought were interesting. They would visit a larger chain store later in the day when Bonnie picked up her shoes from Saks. Stefan and Bonnie were fully prepared to leave Damon at the hotel for the day. However, the raven haired vampire insisted on joining them for the shopping excursion. Bonnie wanted to ditch Damon but Stefan convinced her that it wasn’t worth the fight. Moreover, he reminded Bonnie that she had agreed to spending more time with Damon to satisfy the curse. She reluctantly invited Damon to join them but it left a foul taste in her mouth. Bonnie still hadn’t forgiven him for the stunt he pulled during their fight.

Damon was sprawled out in a comfortable armchair while he waited for Bonnie. She had been shopping for well over two hours and showed no signs of slowing down. She frequently popped out of the dressing room demanding opinions about the outfit she was wearing. She had stopped scowling at Damon when he offered genuine opinions about each outfit. However, he was certain that she still didn’t want him there. Damon couldn’t say that he blamed her. Forcing Bonnie to acknowledge her feelings for him had been a low blow. In hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have done that in such a public forum. Unfortunately, he had been getting his ass kicked by a baby vampire and it pissed him off. Damon didn’t always make the best decisions when he was angry. 

He tried not to be annoyed by the goofy smile on his brother’s face. Stefan was obviously infatuated by Bonnie and the sentiment was eagerly returned by her. Being around them all day meant seeing them kiss and touch often. The infuriating part was that the couple weren’t even trying to annoy him. They were just mired in the newlywed phase of the relationship. Damon was not looking forward to being a third-wheel for the entire trip. However, he was grateful to have an ally in Lucy Bennett. She wasn’t with them now, but she planned to join them in Las Vegas in a few days. She was worried that Bonnie wasn’t truly ready to face Klaus alone. Lucy also had her concerns about Stefan being able to pull the proverbial trigger. Their past relationship was worrisome. There was a chance that Stefan might chose Klaus at the last moment and leave Bonnie vulnerable. Damon didn’t think that his brother would purposely put her in danger, but no one could control Klaus when he was angry. For now, Stefan and Bonnie didn’t know that Lucy would be joining them in Vegas. Damon liked thinking of her as his secret weapon. 

Damon had compelled the store clerks to ignore their presence unless they needed help. He didn’t think that Bonnie would be interested in ‘helpful’ clerks lurking while she shopped. The girl seemed happy enough to roam around the boutique choosing clothes that piqued her interest. She had taken a large pile of clothes into the dressing room with her. Bonnie continued to add to it periodically. 

Bonnie emerged from the dressing room wearing a red corset with lace side panels and a pair of ripped jeans. “What do you think of this combination?”

Damon’s throat suddenly felt dry. He thought about something that wouldn’t be downright lewd. However, he came up empty. 

Stefan stopped looking at his phone and his eyes went wide. “I think...you look great. I really like the corset.”

Damon nodded in agreement. He struggled to find his voice. “The lace panels on the sides are a nice detail but the satin cups mean you don’t need to wear anything underneath it or over it. Good choice, witchy.”

Bonnie beamed and said, “That’s what I was thinking! What about the jeans?”

Damon twirled his finger around encouraging Bonnie to spin around for them. 

She slowly turned around as Damon had asked. 

Damon appreciated the way those jeans hugged her butt. He nodded. “You should definitely get those...a couple pairs actually.”

Bonnie smiled happily and said, “Okay!”

Stefan watched as she walked back to the dressing room with a spring in her step. 

A few minutes later, Bonnie called out, “Stefan I need you. I can’t zip this thing up.”

He stood up and walked to the dressing room. He raised an eyebrow when he stepped behind the frosted glass door. “I like this one, too.”

She was wearing a sleeveless white romper. Bonnie grinned in response. “Me, too. I am tempted to get a romper that is similar to this one. It’s this really regal plum color with spaghetti straps.”

Stefan moved behind Bonnie and zipped up the romper for her. He allowed his hand to linger on her bare skin for just a moment. He confessed, “I like the sound of that one, too.”

Once the romper was zipped she stood in front of the mirror. Bonnie shifted poses a couple times in attempt to get the full effect of the romper. Then she searched the stack of clothes for the other romper. Bonnie pulled it out and held it in front of her. “What do you think?”

“I think it will look beautiful on you, Bonnie,” he replied.

Bonnie studied her reflection in the mirror and said, “I should try it on to be sure. Unzip me please?”

Stefan nodded and unzipped the romper. 

She slid the material down her legs and then pulled on the plum option. This one didn’t have a zipper and didn’t require Stefan’s help. She murmured, “I think I like this one even better…”

Stefan slid a hand onto her hip and nodded. “I agree.”

“You have liked everything that I have tried on today,” she complained with a playful expression.  

“It’s not my fault that you look good in everything that you wear. You should try being less stunning,” he quipped.

“Stunning?” she asked with a roll of her eyes. 

Stefan hummed in agreement. “Would I lie to you?”

“Maybe,” she said with a small grin. “You aren’t nearly as saintly as you like to pretend you are.”

“Oh?” he asked with a raised brow. 

Bonnie nodded. “You’ve been staring at me like a starving man since you walked in here.”

“Before that,” he admitted unashamed. 

She bit her lip and whispered, “Damon compelled the boutique’s employees to ignore our presence. Maybe you and I can take advantage of that privacy.”

Stefan’s jaw clenched as he considered Bonnie’s suggestion. He said, “Damon is still sitting out there.”

“I’ll be quiet,” she promised with wide innocent eyes. 

Stefan knew this was a terrible idea but they hadn’t been together since last night. He had become used to early morning sex with Bonnie. He had missed their morning routine a great deal today. Finally, he growled, “Take that thing off before I rip it off.”

She gasped in shock but quickly complied because she really liked that romper. Bonnie watched in mild confusion as Stefan sank to his knees in front of her. Her confusion disappeared when he started kissing her inner thighs. This wasn’t exactly what she had in mind but Bonnie wasn’t going to complain. 

Bonnie bit her lip hard enough to draw blood when Stefan easily ripped off her panties. A moment later, his mouth was on her core. She rested a hand on Stefan’s shoulder to keep herself steady. Already her knees felt weak. 

Stefan was pleased with the breathy moans coming from Bonnie. He increased his efforts curious to see just how quickly he could make her fall apart. Stefan replaced his mouth with his fingers and watched her entire body go tense.

Damon slammed his fist on the door. “Hurry it up! We have company.”

Bonnie stifled a cry by biting her own hand. 

Stefan glared toward the door. “What sort of company?”

“Katherine,” he snapped through the door. 

Stefan was frozen for a moment. He couldn’t think of a good reason for Katherine to suddenly arrive. She had stayed well outside of sight since she helped Stefan steal Klaus’ coffins. It had been her idea but she was perfectly content to let him take the blame. He figured she would continue to lay low while Klaus was on the rampage. 

“We’ll be out in a few minutes,” he replied in an annoyed voice. 

Damon said, “Faster than that. You know how well Katherine and I get along. It would be unfortunate if we destroyed this charming boutique.”

Stefan growled, “I said a few minutes!”

Bonnie was still startled by the sudden interruption and more than a little off balance at the mention of Katherine. “You should go see what she wants. Maybe she found Klaus’ father.”

“Not yet,” he murmured. “I don’t like leaving things unfinished.”

Her head fell back against the wall with a thud as Stefan dived back in more determined than ever. Bonnie sunk her fingers into Stefan’s hair as she felt fire spread through her stomach. She saw stars behind her eyelids as she finally climaxed. 

Stefan slowly rubbed Bonnie’s thigh as she came back down to Earth. He asked, “Are you okay?”

She nodded numbly. “I don’t think okay begins to explain how I feel right now. Euphoric feels closer to accurate.”

He smirked as he got to his feet. He kissed her softly and said, “I should go see what Katherine wants. Damon was telling the truth when he said leaving them alone wasn’t wise. Those two are a recipe for disaster. I am not sure who hates who more. Take as much time as you need to pull yourself together.”

“What about you?” she nodded towards his crotch. 

Stefan pecked her lips. “I can wait until later. There is something to be said for delayed gratification.”

Stefan took a moment to wipe his mouth on the inside of his t-shirt. Then he quickly ducked out of the dressing room. Stefan was glad to find that Damon and Katherine were pointedly not speaking to each other. He really wasn’t in the mood to referee one of their pointless arguments. “What are you doing here, Katherine?”

Katherine’s expression was priceless. She glared at Stefan and said, “Damon greeted me the same way. I always thought you had better manners, Stefan.”

“I am not in the mood for your games. How did you even know that we were in Richmond?” he asked. Suspicion colored his voice. Stefan knew it wouldn’t take much for Katherine to turn on them. She believed in self-preservation above all else. 

She sat down in the chair that he had occupied earlier. Katherine crossed her legs with a smoldering look at Stefan. “I have been following one of Klaus’ mangy hybrids for the last week. He hasn’t been doing much because of the blizzard. I was curious when he was suddenly spurred into action today. Then I realized that he was following the three of you. Why is the witch with you?”

Damon chuckled darkly. “You aren’t so old that you’ve lost your sense of smell, Kitty Kat. You know exactly why Bonnie is here with Stefan.”

He was irritated by Stefan and Bonnie fooling around in the dressing room. However, he would never pass up an opportunity to get under Katherine’s skin. He couldn’t think of a better way than rubbing Stefan and Bonnie’s relationship in her smug face. 

Katherine’s nose wrinkled in disgust. She spat, “Stefan and the witch? Why?”

Stefan smiled and asked, “Why not? I was rather taken by Emily before you started compelling me.”

She tensed at the mention of his affection for Emily. She said, “I did that for her protection. I wouldn’t have been able to protect her if your father caught the two of you socializing.”

“You’ve never been a benevolent soul, Katherine. Let’s not rewrite history, hmm,” he replied. 

Katherine frowned as she studied him closely. She asked, “Klaus let you turn on your humanity?” 

Damon snorted in response but otherwise remained silent. He went back to replying to Lucy’s text message. She had been successful in securing backup for Bonnie’s West Coast mission. He was starting to feel a little better about their chances of getting rid of Klaus.

“Bonnie was able to remove Klaus’ compulsion,” Stefan replied. 

Katherine balked at the idea. She hadn’t considered that the witch was quite that powerful. She scowled at him and said, “I found Klaus’ father but there is a catch. He’s been dessicated and left in a mausoleum. I have tried everything I can think of to wake him...nothing has worked.”

Damon said, “That’s probably for the best. We no longer want Klaus dead.”

She snapped her head in Damon’s direction. “Are you insane?”

Stefan intervened before they could start arguing. He replied, “Damon is right. We learned from a reliable source that killing an Original Vampire will be the death of every vampire in their sireline. We are going to have to neutralize Klaus in another way.”

Bonnie emerged from the dressing room with a huge pile of clothes. “I’ve decided that I’m going to get all of this.”

Stefan smiled at Bonnie. He walked over to take the clothes from her. “Well, let’s go pay for these.”

Katherine twisted in her chair to look at Damon. “What is happening?”

Damon looked up from his phone and said, “They’re dating.”

“Since when?!” Katherine questioned. 

He chuckled at her annoyance. He said, “It’s been just short of a week at this point but it has been a whirlwind.”

“But how did it happen? I thought Stefan was in love with my less interesting doppelganger…”

“Turns out that Elena is more like you than Stefan really wanted,” he taunted with a sly grin. 

Katherine glared at him trying to figure out exactly what Damon meant. She had many traits that Stefan might find unsavory. She had never seen any of them from Elena. The girl was utterly uninteresting and saccharinely sweet. She looked toward the counter where the clerk was placing the witch’s many purchases in bags. She frowned seeing how Stefan stood behind Bonnie the entire time with a hand resting on her waist.

Damon watched Katherine’s expression shift between angry and befuddled. He chuckled to himself. He asked, “Where did you find Papa Original? We should probably get rid of him, too. Someone else could have more luck waking him up.”

“He’s in a cemetery in Charlotte,” she replied. 

He considered the distance for a moment. Damon said, “That’s a four hour drive but it might be worth it. Loose ends can be bothersome.”

Stefan and Bonnie walked over with over a dozen bags. She said, “We’re going to Saks next. I need to pick up the shoes that Tyler ordered for me. Besides, I still need to pick up a few things.”

Damon said, “As much fun as this shopping trip has been...we have work to do. Katherine found Mikael dessicated in Charlotte. We should probably kill him while we have a chance.”

Bonnie frowned and said, “I don’t know about killing him. We can’t know if he turned any vampires before he started hunting down Klaus. We could inadvertently kill our own sireline.”

“Okay, but we can’t just leave him in Charlotte unattended,” Damon said. 

Stefan said, “The other coffins are already on their away to Las Vegas. It’s too late to call the 18-wheeler back to pick up Mikael.”

Bonnie mulled over their predicament. She suggested, “We could send Mikael back home and put him where we kept the other coffins. The witches will keep an eye on him while we’re away.”

Damon said, “Ric could drive out to Charlotte to pick him up. Maybe Wolf Boy and the Quarterback could help him. I’ll call Ric and see what we can figure out.”

She grinned and said, “Great. Now I’m going to Saks. I need shoes to go with my new clothes. There’s another store I want to stop at, too. But we’ll be going there without you, Damon.”

Stefan’s smile brightened at the mention of the last store Bonnie wanted to visit. 

Katherine’s eyes had been volleying between to the two of them. “What is happening here?!”

Bonnie chuckled at Katherine’s reaction. “She screeches like Elena does…”

Damon laughed and shook his head. 

* * *

 

Stefan glanced at his watch and frowned at the time. They had only planned to spend an hour at the bar. Somehow they were now well into hour three with no sign of slowing down. Initially, Stefan hadn’t been interested in a night out on the town but Bonnie could be incredibly persuasive. She claimed that they deserved some form of entertainment after being snowed in for the better part of a week without murdering each other. Moreover, it wasn’t as if any of them actually needed to sleep the way that humans did. Technically, they could party all night without too many repercussions. Although, Stefan had noticed that Bonnie still seemed to require more sleep than he did. He couldn’t tell if it was because she was a baby vamp or hybrid witchpire. 

A night out on the town was also a reward for Bonnie’s good behavior. She had been tempted to kill Katherine from the moment they set eyes on each other. Stefan wasn’t aware of any personal grudge she had against Katherine. Nevertheless, the two women had been like oil and water all day. The friction had mostly been limited to insults but Katherine had nearly lost a hand when she touched Stefan. Bonnie had used her magic swiftly and in a very public place. They were lucky that no one noticed the strange scene that played out on the streets of downtown Richmond.  

Despite being told multiple times that her presence was unwanted, Katherine refused to leave them alone. That’s when Damon came up with the idea of rewarding Bonnie if she managed to resist the urge to kill Katherine. His brother suggested a night of drinking and dancing as reward. Damon also reasoned that it would be a way to burn off some aggression. Bonnie seemed to have tons of pent up aggression just waiting for an appropriate target. Damon’s idea had appealed to Bonnie almost immediately. She was only a little disappointed that they wouldn’t allow her to kill Katherine. She still found a way to needle their sire. Bonnie refused to refer to Katherine as anything other than ‘Granny Kathy’. Damon had laughed uproariously the first time and every time since.   

Bonnie had been dancing like a madwoman all night. She rejected any man that asked her to dance that wasn’t named Stefan Salvatore. Damon hadn’t even tried to ask her to dance since they were still on shaky ground. However, she had let him help her feed from a waitress and then wipe her memory of the incident. Damon had offered to be her chaperone since Stefan was still limiting his human blood intake. He would return to drinking only human blood once they touched down in Las Vegas. Bonnie’s first attempt at eating and erasing had gone off without a hitch. The only downside was that tasting fresh human blood from the tap made her want more. However, Damon had a solution for that, too.

Damon slapped his hand on the table and said, “Come on! Drink up, Stefan.” 

He rolled eyes but quickly downed his shot of tequila. 

Bonnie kicked Damon under the table. “Stop peer pressing Stefan. He doesn’t have to play this stupid drinking game with us.” 

“A stupid drinking game that you seem to be enjoying,” he countered with a grin. 

“I am only doing this for scientific purposes. I need to see what my new tolerance is for alcohol,” Bonnie declared. Her glassy eyes revealed that she was already quite drunk. 

Damon chuckled, “How very scholarly of you…”

She hiccuped and said, “I’ll have you know I have a 3.8 GPA even with you and every other vampire trying to ruin my life.” 

Stefan tried not to laugh at her drunken hiccup.

“That’s impressive,” Damon conceded.  

She nodded and said, “I am impressive. Are you sure I can’t kill Granny Kathy?”

Damon chuckled deeply and refilled her shot glass. He said, “That just means you haven’t had enough tequila.”

Stefan looked toward the dancefloor where Katherine was dancing with her latest victim. She had been feeding from the man all night. He bore a mild resemblance to Stefan and that was lost on no one. He couldn’t tell if Katherine was trying to get under Bonnie’s skin or if the man was simply her preference.  Stefan was just glad that Damon was keeping Bonnie somewhat occupied.

Bonnie squinted at the glass and then quickly drank its contents. She whined, “I mean she doesn’t even really serve a purpose. She found Mikael already and he’s safely tucked away in Mystic Falls. Why can’t I kill her?”

Damon chuckled again and said, “Because she could be useful bait for Klaus at a later date. You have to look at the big picture, Witchy. We’re hunting big game now.” 

Bonnie frowned as she drunkenly considered his point. Then she groaned in resignation. “Fine but if she tries touch Stefan again all bets are off! We can just use Klaus’ mommy and daddy as bait.”

Stefan rubbed Bonnie’s thigh to settle her down.

“Someone’s possessive,” Damon said with a smirk. “I thought the two of you were planning for a threesome with Klaus. I would have assumed you would be more open-minded.”

Bonnie huffed, “Not that it’s any of your business but Stefan and I made a pact. We don’t sleep with anyone without the other person present. And I wouldn’t touch Katherine with a ten foot pole.”

Damon wrinkled his nose at that inconvenient caveat. Sharing a woman with his brother was no issue to him. Sharing a woman at the same time stretched the limits of propriety too much even for him. However, he had serious doubts about Stefan’s ability to keep to their pact. The more he learned about Stefan and Klaus, the more he predicted rough seas ahead. Klaus was a possessive bastard with everyone in his life. He liked being the center of attention even with his own siblings. He would certainly try to find a way to drive a wedge between Stefan and Bonnie. The easiest way would be getting Stefan into bed alone. Bonnie would be heartbroken and would assuredly pull away from Stefan. Damon planned to be there to pick up the pieces. In the meantime, he would cultivate a friendship. Stefan’s humanity was on again and he’d lost his edge. It was obvious that Bonnie’s edge was very much still present. She was unpredictably violent and too powerful for her own good.

Stefan smiled at Bonnie. “You don’t need to worry about Katherine. I haven’t been interested in her games for a very long time.”

Bonnie leaned in and kissed him. Afterwards, she said, “That’s because you’re the smarter brother.”

“I have been called that before. I’m not sure if it’s always true,” Stefan replied. 

Damon snorted. “For the smart brother, he tends to get himself into the worst situations. He has a bit of a hero complex.”

“I have to the balance the ledger out some way, brother.”

Bonnie frowned at the seriousness in Stefan’s tone. She said, “Stop being mean to him, Damon. There is nothing wrong with wanting to help people. And there is certainly nothing wrong with trying to make up for the bad things he’s done in the past. We should all try to atone for the mistakes we’ve made.”

“You’re being very judgy. I think we need more shots...this time something stronger,” he said. He grabbed a bottle of bourbon and lined up four glasses for Bonnie. 

She pouted prettily. “Bourbon is gross. I don’t want it.” 

He grinned at her. “I don’t make the rules, Judgy.”

“What? Yes, you do make the rules. This stupid drinking game was your idea,” she huffed. 

Stefan said, “Maybe Bonnie has had enough for the night.”

“How much do you still want to kill Katherine?” Damon asked with a raised brow. 

Bonnie glanced at Katherine and sighed deeply. “I want to rip off her head and drain her like a pouch of Capri Sun. We’re still hovering around an 8 on the killing her scale.”

Damon barked out a laugh at Bonnie’s vivid explanation. He filled the glasses with bourbon and then motioned to her. “Then we keep drinking! And I’ll order something fruity for you to chase it with.”

She shrugged once he mentioned buying her a fruity cocktail, too. Bonnie drank all four shots of bourbon. She groaned and said, “That was awful. How do you drink this stuff?”

“You just have an underdeveloped palette,” he said. He waved over a waitress and asked, “What’s the girliest drink you have here?”

The woman said, “We have a strawberry and pomegranate mojito.”

Bonnie’s eyes lit up. “That sounds amazing. I want three.”

Damon chuckled and said, “You heard the lady. She’ll have three of those and I’ll take another bottle of tequila, sweetheart.”

The waitress gave Damon a smoldering look before walking away with an obvious sway of her hips. 

He watched appreciatively as she headed back to the bar. He said, “Well, I know what I will be doing tonight.”

Stefan rolled his eyes and said, “Just make sure you make our flight on time. We’re leaving with or without you, brother.”

“I’ll be there,” Damon said with a chuckle. 

Bonnie gripped Stefan’s hand. “Come dance with me.”

Stefan couldn’t say no to the bright smile on her face. He stood up and pulled Bonnie along with him. He found a space on the dance floor and smiled at Bonnie. “I am glad that you are having a good time.”

“I wish you were having a better time,” Bonnie replied. 

“What makes you think I’m not having a good time?”

“Maybe it’s the look on your face. I’m guessing bars and drinking aren’t really your thing,” she said. 

Stefan shook his head. “That’s not true. I’m just...Damon and I are opposite in a lot of ways. He uses drinking to control his bloodlust and sometimes it can trigger mine.”

Bonnie stopped dancing and looked horrified. “Why didn’t you say anything? You didn’t have to drink with us tonight.”

He chuckled. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m not even close to being drunk. My tolerance is...a lot higher than you would think.”

“Promise?” Bonnie asked. 

Stefan kissed her. “Yes.”

They danced for a few songs before Katherine walked over to them. 

Bonnie’s eyes turned venomous. “Walk away or I will set you ablaze right here on the dancefloor.”

Katherine grinned and said, “Stefan would never let you do that.”

The girl giggled and said, “You are assuming that Stefan has the power to stop me.”

Katherine stepped closer to Bonnie and said, “I think you are overestimating your strength. I can rip your heart out in seconds.”

The humor drained from Bonnie’s face. She looked at Katherine’s leg and watched as it snapped like a twig. Then she looked at her arm and it snapped, too.

Katherine howled in pain and collapsed on the floor. 

Bonnie leaned down so that no one else could overhear the exchange over the music. “That was strike two. I wouldn’t recommend a strike three, Granny Kathy.”

She turned around and wandered back to their table in search of her fruity cocktails.

Stefan groaned and helped Katherine up. He steered her to an empty chair and said, “You really should stop antagonizing Bonnie. She has a very short fuse these days.”

She spat angrily. “I’ve noticed…”


End file.
